Death Note: A Sonata of Death
by Necrotic-Sonata
Summary: L meets a talented young woman of the arts. Mainly, music. Through each other, they will inspire one another to do great things, pulling victory from the ashes of defeat. But this win will be bittersweet. -Major Spoilers-
1. Recruit

_Music expresses that which cannot be said and on which it is impossible to be silent._

-Victor Hugo

* * *

Fingers flexing over the keys, she paused a moment to take in the silence before the void was no more, and music filled the hall. Her fingers swept across the keys, as nothing is as satisfying as the sound of music. The sweet melody that was Beethoven sedated her to her core, only she wasn't deaf to its euphonious intonation as she closed her eyes. In that moment, she pitied the man, the poor soul of such breath-taking compositions… and he never had the opportunity to hear them. It would be a curse of curses to be deaf, she often thought. She would rather be blind, mute, even sacrifice her arms and hands themselves, to surrender them, to never touch an instrument again, so long as she could only hear the beauty of another. But she was not deaf, nor was she blind or mute, and all of her limbs were intact. A new sound came from the background, her eyes fluttering open as the music abruptly ceased. 

"… Kotone. We have visitors," Her mother, Kokoro, whispered in her ear, resting her hand momentarily upon her daughter's shoulder.

Kotone brought her legs up onto the bench, holding her ankles.

"I need to be present?" She asked, her voice almost as melodic as the piece she had just finished playing.

"No," Kokoro smiled sadly,

"But as beautiful as your music is, your father has requested total silence while he meets with the rest of the investigation team in the living room."

Kotone stiffened, nervously tucking ebony locks behind her ear.

"But, mother… I- I thought they were meeting at that hotel in- ?"

Her mother shook her head slowly, pulling the strap to her duffle bag over head.

"I'm sorry. I know how you don't like your father being involved with the Kira case- or being a policeman altogether, for that matter- but he is, and they are, so you're going to have to bear with it for the next few weeks, dear."

"Weeks?!" She whined, her normally even tone soaring to sopranos.

"Perhaps months. Well, at least, until they can find a new place to meet. Since the hotel they were using for their meetings in being renovated, someplace had to be offered up, and, your father was the first to step up to the plate. Oh, and, don't be shy- your father is busy, I'm off to the university, so that leaves you to offer refreshments to the nice investigators. They're risking their lives to catch that Kira, so the least you could do is offer them some tea."

Her mother bid her goodbye as she quietly went out the front door, and Kotone's body seemed to have a mind of its own, as she often thought it did, and her legs found their way to her chest and her arms coiled around them as she began to rock back and forth on the bench on her heels.

"Tea…" She murmured, reminding herself as she unwound from her distressed ball.

She didn't like those men in her house, let alone have to speak to them, if only for a moment. What was more, she was banned from her beloved instruments for weeks or months now, as she was unsure of how long these meetings would take place. Her father was gone for nearly ten hours daily to attend these get-togethers, and now with this L on the team, it was sure to be substantially longer. Standing up, she gathered her nerve and walked into the front room.

"… _Father mentioned that a new man had joined this task force… The man that challenged Kira on a broadcast the day before yesterday, L… Is that the reason for the sudden switch of location? Is it because this L is afraid that Kira might find him at the station?"_

Kotone pushed open the door, where seven men stood, including her father, though One seemed to stand out among the iron-pressed suits. He alone wore a long-sleeved white shirt and casual jeans, and not even socks or shoes. He scratched his ankle with his toes, his hands shuffling in his pockets.

"I am L," He stated bluntly.

Kotone's eye's flitted to her father, seeing the reaction she knew he'd have; A look of disapproval. While the other members eyed L with obvious curiosity, Ulrich scowled at the man and his, "lack of posture and formality." The same way he always looked at her because she refused to dress in ballroom dresses and formal attire. L began scratching his head, when his insane eyes met her own blue ones. Kotone felt a shiver run down her spine for the brief moment, then his gaze fell upon the others.

Chief Yagami regained his composure, unveiling his police ID.

"I am Yagami, of the NPA."

"Uhh… Matsuda."

"I'm Aizawa."

"Mogi."

"Ukita."

"Ulrich Ide."

"I'm very sorry we're late," Yagami began.

L's hand left his hair, and he pointed his index finger, in the shape of a gun, at the group.

"Currently, the six of us are-"

"Bang," L interrupted.

The entire group flinched as Kotone brought a curious index finger to her lips.

Her father's disapproving scowl deepened.

"What the hell was that?" He demanded.

A sound that resembled a soft groan erupted from L's throat.

"If I were Kira, you'd all be dead, except for the lady in the back. Kira needs both a face and a name in order to commit murder. But I'm sure you've already figured that much out, haven't you?"

Kotone shuddered as her father's scowl changed its target, seven pairs of eyes falling on her. She rose her hands in her defense, like a paper umbrella in a hurricane.

"I- I just wanted to ask if anyone wanted tea, I didn't mean to- "

"Please do not give out your names so carelessly," L interjected, attention being turned back to him.

All except for her father's, of course. If looks could kill, she just might be six feet under. Her father desperately hated it when she intruded in his cases.

"Instead," L continued, his tone bored and apathetic as he turned to sit in an armchair in the far corner.

"Let's value our lives. Now, enough small talk. Come this way."

"Kotone," Ulrich reprimanded.

"Go to your room and compose something. Take your leave, and stay out of our way during these meetings."

"Y-yes, fath-"

"No, please don't," L added thoughtfully.

"I'd prefer if she'd stay here today, at all the meetings if possible."

"What?" Ulrich demanded, infuriated.

"My daughter is by no means any part of this investigation, L. I intend to keep it this way."

"I have no intention of making her part of this investigation; I only wish she be present here. I'd much rather have her here where I can keep an eye on her than if she were to be a peeping tom outside the door. Now, if you would,"

He waved a hand at the coffee table beside him.

"…please turn off your cell phones, handhelds, and any other communication devices and leave them on the table right there."

L's gaze met Kotone's exasperated one, as if to imply that she, too, were subject to the restraint.

"_I try to avoid them… and I become a part of them…"_

She stepped out of the doorway, removing her cell phone from her back pocket, switching it off before lying it down on the coffee table.

"_I hate tea…"_

"I realize he's been cautious from the very beginning," Matsuda mused aloud,

"But I still don't think he trusts us."

"No, I find it distracting. I can't stand it when people's cell phones are ringing while I'm trying to talk."

L climbed into the armchair, propping his feet in the seat, his hands resting on his knees.

"Let me start by saying that nobody takes notes about anything that's said at these meetings. All information will be committed to memory. Make yourselves comfortable- oh, Mr. Ide?"

"Yes?" Ulrich replied, slightly irate that a visitor had taken the initiative to allow others to make themselves comfortable in his own home.

"Thank you for letting us use your home as a means of meeting- aside from headquarters, anyway, which, your daughter will not be attending. Anything remotely confidential will be shared there, not in front of her… for reasons that you can completely understand, I am sure."

Ulrich nodded, the group filing into the living main room, sitting in various areas, L watching everyone carefully. It was only when they were all seated that he spoke.

"Kotone, was it? I think I will take you up on that offer of yours now. Although, I'm not much of a tea person myself, so coffee, please, if you wouldn't mind?"

"Not at all," She responded, rising once again to her feet.

But when an aged man walked into the room carrying a kettle, she sat back down, deeming herself unnecessary. He poured a cup of coffee for L, pretending to be oblivious to how meticulously he was being watched. She observed how delicately L handled the cup, and how he gingerly added countless sugar cubes to his drink, as if afraid to get his hands dirty.

"Excuse me, L?" Matsuda began, awkwardly breaking the silence.

"Oh, from now on I'll have to ask that you stop calling me L. It's "Ryuzaki" now, just to be safe," The newly declared Ryuzaki announced.

"Umm… Okay, Ryuzaki… So, we know that he needs a name and a face to kill, couldn't we just keep from posting criminal's names on the news?"

He stirred his coffee, before replying,

"If we do that, we'd only be putting the general public at risk."

"Why?" Matsuda persisted.

Ryuzaki looked up from his coffee, ceasing his stirring, and made eye contact with Kotone.

"Kira is childish, and hates to lose," Was his simplistic reply.

"Just what do you mean?" Sochiro inquired.

"Well," He started, returning to his drink,

"I'm also childish and I hate to lose. That's how I know."

"Could you try being a little more specific?" Ulrich droned.

"The broadcast," Kotone mused aloud before she could stop herself.

Ryuzaki, however, wasn't angry. Instead, he seemed slightly pleased she had spoken.

"Yes. I tried provoking him via the broadcast, when we thought that Kira would only go after criminals. As we all witnessed, he didn't hesitate to kill Lind L. Tailor."

"Then, as soon as you said that Kira was in the Kanto region, another string of victims from Japan were murdered, as if he were taunting you," Kotone mused again.

"He's met all of my challenges head on, and he's never missed an opportunity to return the favor," He continued.

"Now, what do you think would happen if we tried to use media restrictions to hide criminals from someone like that?"

Matsuda looked sheepish.

"I guess…"

"'If you choose to withhold the names of your worst criminals, I'll kill petty criminals, or the innocent. I'm holding the whole world hostage, so who's it going to be? I'm not the evil one here, but all of you who oppose me by hiding criminals, you are truly evil.' That's exactly how Kira thinks."

His gaze turned to Kotone, who hadn't spoken a word since the broadcast remark. He rubbed his feet together as he gazed curiously at her, analyzing her.

"…And what do you think of this?"

Kotone pursed her lips. There was a reason she didn't like the federal government, and this Ryuzaki wasn't accommodating this dislike.

"Of course you're allowed to say whatever is on your mind," Ryuzaki assured her, almost like reading her thoughts, jumping the gun before Ulrich had a chance to react. He brought his thumb to his mouth.

"Just because you're not part of this case, doesn't mean that you're exempt from these meetings… If that made any sense at all to you."

Figuring that was the best way to get this man to leave her alone, she graced him with the sound of her voice.

"Well, Kira obviously pays close attention to the media. I think that we should draw his attention with another broadcast."

Ryuzaki's eyes widened, a dim spark behind them, as if coming to some personal conclusion.

"I agree. Let's do something like this…"

He raised his head, staring at the ceiling.

" 'Death of FBI agents infuriates the US. Latest killings anger the International Policing Committee. Nations agree to send fifteen hundred investigators to Japan'. "

His head returned to eye level.

"For Kira, this will be way more than what he faced with the FBI. He'll see everyone as a potential threat. Psychologically, he'll start to feel cornered, and this will force him to take drastic action."

Everyone in the room seemed to exhale all at once, Kotone silently impressed with Ryuzaki's intellect. Matsuda and Aizawa began happily talking about such, Ryuzaki seeming annoyed.

"Well, before we celebrate, let me tell you about the rest of my thoughts on the Kira case."

Matsuda nodded, listening intently.

"Kira works alone. He had access to all our classified information. We know that he needs a name and face to kill, and that to some extent, can control a person's time of death, and their actions before dying. Please keep this in mind… and listen carefully to what I have to say next."

Ryuzaki pulled a black marker from his pocket, removing the cap and writing on the table. Ulrich's temple bulged, and Kotone made a mental note that this man may be a genius, but he was definitely no social butterfly and an enemy of common courtesy. Not the kind of men her father particularly liked.

"On December fourteenth, twelve FBI investigators enter Japan. Here we are, on December nineteenth, using prison inmates, Kira conducts experiments manipulating his victims' actions before they die. In other words, in this window of only five days, Kira obviously sensed the presence of FBI agents and felt threatened."

He traced a bold black line back and forth, back and forth several times over the arrows between the days.

"Because he didn't know any of their names or faces, he was at a disadvantage. He needed to know to what extent he could control his victims' time and actions before death so that he could use it against the twelve agents. And, as we all know on December twenty-seventh, he obtained just what he needed. It was during this time that he's been most active. December nineteenth through December twenty-seventh… During this period, to the best of our knowledge, at least twenty-three individuals died because of heart attacks."

He paused, rubbing his feet together again. His eyes returned, once again, to hers.

"Notice anything… unusual?"

Kotone frowned.

"_Why is he singling me out? He could ask anyone, but he chooses to ask me in particular. It would be best not to say anything to make him suspicious of me, but then if I don't say anything, would that make me stand out even more?"_

"I'm not much of a television person myself, but… Kira usually aims for criminals in particular, right? However, these victims were different from Kira's previous targets. They were all alleged criminals, ex-convicts, or suspects in ongoing investigations, so legally, they were all innocent."

"And don't you see a connection between them, Kotone?"

"_He's not going to leave me alone, is he?"_

Pursing her lips, she tried a different approach.

"…No."

"What this means," Ryuzaki explained, his speech picking up the pace.

"Is that Kira had to manipulate those lesser criminals in order to kill those FBI agents. He killed that many people so that we wouldn't be able to tell the decoys from the people that were actually used. In truth, he probably only needed a few. He waited eight days, so there would be no time limit linking to their deaths."

"So, in short," Kotone added, hoping that if she spoke voluntarily, it would satiate Ryuzaki's urge to single her out,

"You think that Kira is one of the people under scrutiny of the FBI agents during the…"

She glanced down at the table, scribbling littering its surface.

"The fourteenth of December, and the nineteenth."

"I have no doubt," He corrected her, his urge unappeased.

"These are files provided by the FBI containing information you might find useful. For obvious reasons, you may not take them out of this house, which, Mr. Ide, I beseech you to find a place for these in your home, and again, for obvious precautions, Kotone, you may not look at them-"

"Wow!"

"We can cover a lot of ground with these!"

Ryuzaki's face twisted into one of irritation at being interrupted, but he seized control again,

"Does anyone have any questions."

It was a statement, not a question.

The ghost of a smile graced her lips, and an idea flitted across Kotone's mind as she decided to humor herself and ask something she already knew the answer to, but wanted to hear him say it himself, and return the favor of annoyance to Ryuzaki.

"Actually, Ryuzaki, I do have one question."

Ryuzaki's expression changed, and he became curious.

"It pertains to what you said earlier about not wanting to lose. Does the fact that you've shown your face to the investigation team and myself mean that you're against the ropes now, and that you have been overcome? Have you lost, Ryuzaki?"

His expression became more solemn, almost sad.

"That's right. By showing my face to you now, and by sacrificing the lives of twelve FBI agents, I have lost the battle."

His voice seemed to become suddenly deeper, a spark flickering in his mad eyes.

"But I'm not going to lose the war."

Seeing as how he was already on the subject, he decided to elaborate.

"This is the first time I've ever put my life on the line. I want to show Kira that we're all willing to risk our lives, if that's what it takes."

His face twisted again, into something that made Kotone want to grin herself, with the craziness of the appearance such a bizarre look a smile gave him. His voice lightened again.

"Justice will prevail."

His face fell again, becoming more serious. Kotone wished she had had her camera with her so that she might've taken a picture of that whimsical sight.

"Before we go any further, I need to make absolutely certain that none of you are Kira."

Kotone's body froze over.

"_That isn't why he singled me out… was it? Could he really believe that I am Kira?"_

The thought was laughable to her, but perhaps not to someone as suspicious and cautious as Ryuzaki, someone who didn't know her at all.

"… So I will have to speak with each of you individually before we leave today."

Ryuzaki walked over to the window, thumb pressed against his lips.

* * *

That man… L… Ryuzaki… Both were obviously aliases, but referring to the same man. Her fingers deftly danced across the keyboard… a ballerina making sweet music every time she stepped. 

Ryuzaki had taken a man a piece into the kitchen to talk to him one-on-one, until all who remained were herself and her father. Matsuda had been the last to go besides her and her father, but she wished he would have been the first. She didn't mind others listening to her play, but it was a severe distraction to have one hover over her shoulder, which is exactly what he did, gawking at her as she played.

His interrogation over, he left without Kotone noticing, as his absence brought along bliss for her, and she lost track of time as her father entered the kitchen.

Her heart soared; singing like only music could make it do. Goosebumps ran up her arms and for a moment, she felt so sedated, submitting herself to the melodic sound of –

"Debussy."

Kotone's fingers immediately clasped together on her lap. She gazed over her shoulder, Ryuzaki looming above her. Her eyes widened, too shocked at his correct interpretation of the piece to be angry about being watched.

"You play?" She questioned.

A smile flickered across his lips.

"No. But I've heard of him. I can't play anything instrumental."

Her shock faded, turning back to her keys.

"You are most deprived."

Ryuzaki sat down beside her, pulling his bare feet onto the bench, pressing a low A key.

"Teach me."

Kotone laughed softly.

"You cannot simply learn to play piano on a whim. It doesn't work that way."

"I never said "Teach me to play right now." I merely requested that you mentor me."

She pressed the high C sharp key.

"I couldn't teach you even if I wanted to. I taught myself to play, so I cannot even read music. My parents will not pay for music lessons, so I suffice by listening to a piece, and memorizing it."

"That is impressive. I admire anyone who has taught themselves to play piano."

"It isn't just piano," Kotone replied, looking down at her hands.

"I've also taught myself violin, cello, flute, baritone, and clarinet- all of which I am still perfecting, of course. I've recently picked up the trumpet, but I don't like I'm going to go far with that one. Percussion and brass generally isn't my style."

"You own all of these instruments?" Ryuzaki asked incredulously.

Kotone shook her head.

"No, I only have a piano, and a cello, because those are my mother's favorites. There is a music shop not far from here, and the owner there lets me go in and play whatever instrument I desire, whenever I please."

"Perhaps… You could begin with something simple for me."

"You still want to learn?" She asked.

"I didn't think you'd have the time, Ryuzaki. With the Kira case and all- "

Ryuzaki raised his index finger in realization.

"Ah. I had nearly forgotten, your piano prowess is so mesmerizing."

"Thank you," Kotone replied softly, a blush creeping across her face.

"Spell out your daily routine for me," Ryuzaki instructed.

"I imagine you attend some kind of school?"

Kotone shook her head, slightly amused.

"No. I have graduated."

"Don't you attend a college of some sort?"

Her amusement threatened to explode from her lips.

"I graduated last year, Ryuzaki. I attended To-Oh University."

His eyes grew alight.

"To-Oh, you say?"

His finger went to his lips.

"If that is indeed the case, then why aren't you in the NPA?"

She bowed her head.

"At the time I was attending To-Oh… It was my last year there… My brother, Ichirou, two years my senior, was on the police task force… He was killed. After his death, my father thought I wouldn't be able to make it in the NPA if even Ichirou was killed. Both of my parents agreed that, even though I held top scores all throughout my years at To-Oh, they still had their doubts, and I never joined after college. I wanted to be a detective, and be in the middle of cases, but instead I'm stuck doing menial work at headquarters. I go in when my father does, but I'm never permitted to listen to meetings, and I sort files, but only before they're thoroughly checked by someone else to make sure I don't get my hands on anything remotely classified. My father's afraid that if I found out anything about his cases, that I would try and go behind his back and investigate on my own with the knowledge I'd discovered."

She clenched her fists on her lap.

"My father thinks I'm incapable, and that's why he prefers I practice music compositions over being at the station doing menial work anyone can do, and he doesn't even appreciate the arts in the least."

Ryuzaki dropped his hand, resting it on his knee as he turned to face her for the first time.

"What if I convinced your father to let you join the task force? Would you?"

Kotone gasped, her eyes flying open. Regaining her composure, she shook her head.

"My father will never agree. I thought you said earlier that you didn't want me on the task force anyway?"

"I said that to appease your father," Ryuzaki explained.

He thought a while longer, before replying,

"No, you're probably right. Your father won't easily be convinced. But it's too inconvenient to not have you on the case, but to still meet here… In this case… How about if I have you help me out behind the scenes?"

Kotone stared at him, horrified.

"You mean go around my father's back and work on the Kira case?"

"Well, you don't have to think about it like that. I'm sure that once you do something significant for us, he'll dismiss the whole ordeal altogether and let you stay on the investigation team."

Kotone laughed bitterly.

"You do not know my father. He is very unforgiving."

"Well then," Ryuzaki muttered, his finger returning to his mouth.

"I suppose that you'll just stay in the dark, then."

Kotone clenched her jaw. He was testing her loyalties, she knew this. But to whom did her loyalties fall? Her naïve father, or this confident Ryuzaki?

"Alright," She murmured softly.

"I'll work on this Kira case, but you must help me not be caught by anyone else currently working on the case. If I am caught, they will most definitely tell my father about it."

Ryuzaki pressed a small string of randomized keys.

"You have my word… Under one condition."

Kotone waited for him to continue, listening intently.

"I want you to go to listen to our conversations at headquarters while I have Watari, my assistant, bug the room for you. For now, I cannot install cameras without drawing the attention of the others, for obvious reasons I'm sure you understand."

"Yes."

"Alright… We will continue to meet here, but we will both have to watch what we say."

He turned to face her, his wild eyes gleaming with sincerity.

"I think that you are vital to this case. Besides, I still haven't decided whether or not you are in fact Kira, so I must keep a close eye on you nonetheless. Though I will be watching you closely, I still trust you to help me. Do you understand this?"

"You still suspect me?" She questioned, slightly insulted.

"Please don't be offended. I will suspect everyone as a potential Kira until their name is cleared from my suspicion."

"…I guess, I see your point."

"Now…"

Ryuzaki turned back to the piano once again, his fingers hovering over the keys. Kotone smiled softly.

"Let's start with something easy, like "Mary had a little Lamb". Now, do as I do, only on that side of the piano."

"How will I know which key on your side coordinates with the key on mine?"

"Well… Look at the distance from the end. An A here is an A… there."

"I see."

"Now, follow me…"

* * *

"_Music is love, in search of a word."_


	2. Explaination

Konichiwa, and welcome! Okay now, just to clear up any confusion, there are specifics to the pronunciation of the name "Kotone". It's pronounced "Ko-Toh-Nae", opposed to "Ko-Tone", as it appears to be spelled. I actually looked that name up, and that's what the pronunciation key said. (shrugs) Ah well. It is you reading this story, so feel free to call it whatever you like. I just have an unfortunate fetish with being precise, and I'm a perfectionist… Sigh…

* * *

He turned to face her, his wild eyes gleaming with sincerity.

"I think that you are vital to this case. Besides, I still haven't decided whether or not you are in fact Kira, so I must keep a close eye on you nonetheless. Though I will be watching you closely, I still trust you to help me. Do you understand this?"

"You still suspect me?" She questioned, slightly insulted.

"Please don't be offended. I will suspect everyone as a potential Kira until their name is completely cleared from my suspicion."

"…I guess, I see your point."

"Now…"

Ryuzaki turned back to the piano once again, his fingers hovering over the keys. Kotone smiled softly.

"Let's start with something easy, like "Mary had a little Lamb". Now, do as I do, only on that side of the piano."

"How will I know which key on your side coordinates with the key on mine?"

"Well… Look at the distance from the end. An A here is an A… there."

"I see."

"Now, follow me…"

* * *

"I've decided that Kira is not among us."

The investigation team swarmed around Ryuzaki in his computer chair.

"How can you be sure of this?" Ulrich demanded, furrowing his brow.

"Actually," Ryuzaki replied, face in his hand,

"I'd prepared some tricks to determine whether you all were Kira or not- your daughter as well, Mr. Ide- but I didn't feel the need to use such trickery."

His phone rang, the small light flickering on the phone.

"'Scuse me," He muttered, reaching for it.

"Got it," He spoke to the invisible person on the phone.

"We've just finished here. Use your own key to enter."

He clicked the phone off.

"Watari's coming-"

His phone rang again in his hands.

"Hello?"

His eyes became curious, the corners of his mouth being lifted up into an amused smile.

"Understood. I'll tell Watari to pick you up on his way here. You remember him, right? Good."

He snapped his phone shut, before gazing up at Ulrich, the grin lingering momentarily on his lips.

"I'd like to say that your daughter is a woman of many talents, Ulrich… But being incapable of something as simple as figuring out the mysteries of turning on a television set… I don't think that such a compliment is in order."

Ulrich rose to his feet, forgetting about the iced tea resting on his knee. The glass shattered on the tile floor, ice and lemon skiing across the liquid.

"That was Kotone? What's wrong?!"

"Nothing. She called saying that the television had attacked her."

Matsuda snickered, receiving a nasty glare from Ulrich, whom shut up immediately.

"Attacked?" Shoichiro questioned.

"It was sparking and she was shocked as soon as she touched the on button. And even then, the set never came on."

Ulrich huffed, sitting back down again, a scowl plastered on his face. The door opened, and Watari entered. Kotone followed him in sheepishly, causing Ulrich to stand back up again.

"You told her to come?"

Kotone flinched, already backing up towards the door.

"I did," Ryuzaki replied blandly.

"Ulrich, if you do not mind I'd like to have her join this investigation."

Ulrich clenched and unclenched his fists, his face turning a vibrant red. Kotone's whole body shuddered violently as she shook her head madly.

"Not a chance, Ryuzaki!" He boomed, bringing the fear of God into everyone in the room but Watari and Ryuzaki.

He began to wave his arms about his head, resembling that of a madman.

"I didn't have my daughter taken out of the mess she was in only to be deliberately thrown headfirst into another one!"

"I believe she will be of much needed help," The detective protested, gingerly picking up a spoon by its tip, scooping ice cream onto it from his bowl.

"I have heard about your son, Ulrich. You have my condolences that such a thing had to happen. He was how old?"

Ulrich froze, a pain surging through his chest, like a hot knife to butter. His head hung limply, Ryuzaki's words bringing forth stinging memories he preferred to keep hidden in the shadows of denial, shredding his heart. Kotone brought a finger to her mouth, stroking her bottom lip softly.

"Ichirou was twenty-three. A prodigy. Graduated top of his class from high school, and was the sole freshman representative. When he left To-Oh, he was immediately offered a place on the NPA. Then there was a hostage situation at an elementary school in Osaka. It was only his fifth case… He had always been so passionate about children, he loved them… then he acted upon his emotions, not his mind. His impulsive actions cost him his life."

L brought the ice cream to his lips, licking it meticulously, his tongue searching only for the chocolate chip bits.

"I can understand why you are so protective of your only child, but that should be her primary reason for being on this investigation."

"What are you talking about, Ryuzaki?" Ulrich demanded.

"I mean that you shouldn't make a martyr of him. As unfortunate as your son's death was, your daughter is not your son. She is a different kind of person, and Kotone seems a very analytical person, is she not?"

He set his spoon in the empty bowl, spinning it around the edge with his index finger.

"It seems that Ichirou was not the only one letting his emotions get the best of him."

Ulrich opened his mouth to argue, but was lost for words. Watari opened a silver case, leaning down beside of Ryuzaki.

"Well then, I've brought the items that you've requested. It's all here."

"And please work on getting Miss Ide's completed as well. Thank you, Watari. Could you please pass them out to everyone?"

"Yes," Was Watari's loyal reply.

"Don't be so jumpy, Ulrich. Have a seat."

Ulrich reluctantly obeyed, steely eyes boring into his daughter's skull as she turned to face the door. Rocking back and forth on her heels, she began distracting herself from her father's death stare by humming incoherently to herself.

"Kotone."

She paused, freezing in mid rock on her toes.

"Sit down. You're part of this investigation now, so I can't have you tuning me out. I will only say something once, and you can't afford to miss anything."

Finding herself slightly embarrassed, she silently took a seat next to Matsuda. Watari opened a case, its contents making Kotone a little jealous.

"There are your new police IDs," Ryuzaki explained in a bored tone.

"New?" Aizawa questioned.

Shoichiro's eyes scrutinized the IDs with skeptical eyes.

"Both the name and the title are fake," He observed.

"Kira needs both a name and face to murder," Ryuzaki droned for the hundredth time.

"We're pursuing him on that assumption. I would've thought this to be the most obvious course of action."

"But police officers carrying around fake IDs? That's the definition of irony," Kotone teased.

Ulrich threw a stern look, and she added, as if it might redeem herself,

"O-of course, if Kira needs both a face and name to kill, having fake IDs could easily save your lives."

"What are you talking about, "your"?" Ryuzaki questioned in a bored tone.

"You're every much a part of this as we police and detectives are. As I mentioned earlier, Watari doesn't have it now, but he'll be getting in touch with you later to deliver it."

Her father shuffled angrily in his seat, grasping and ungrasping hold of his knees. His eyes narrowed dangerously, as he glared at Ryuzaki.

"So I admit… My decisions may reflect what has happened previously in my family," He began slowly, precisely, as if Ryuzaki were deaf and dumb.

"But they are my decisions nonetheless. I couldn't protect my son, but I won't make the same mistake with my daughter."

"No. You decide to shelter her from what she wants most. It seems to me that you and your wife completely ruined your daughter's life after your son was killed. She based her entire career on this- and you take it away because you are afraid for her. That seems like a selfish act to me."

Ulrich's temple bulged, his eyes filled with rage. Kotone bit down on her lip.

"_That Ryuzaki- he's got to be_ insane_ challenging father like that!"_

"You are no one to tell me how to raise my child! You've never had children- you wouldn't know the feeling of losing one, and then to deliberately throw your other child into the same fire that burned your first?"

L hunched over his coffee cup, dropping three cubes of sugar into it with the tips of his fingers.

"I suppose you might be right… She isn't my responsibility, and I wouldn't know what emotional issues you and your wife must be dealing with."

He paused, before adding,

"And I cannot, in any shape way or form, guarantee that she will still be with us when this case ends. This goes for everyone in this room, and everyone who gets involved. So I suppose that if she is that fragile, then she shouldn't be here."

"I am _not_ fragile!" Kotone fumed, her nails digging into her forearms as she clawed at them.

"However," Ryuzaki continued as if she had never made the statement,

"The fact cannot be helped that she will, regardless of want anyone wants, be involved in this case in some way. She already is, this much cannot be helped. It is all a matter of how _much_ she will be involved now. The way I see it, if she must be involved, she must be fully involved. She is safest this way. Ignorance is not always bliss, not when it's a murderer you're dealing with. And not just any ordinary killer, either- Kira. I was thinking only of what was safest for Kotone when I made this suggestion."

Ulrich ground his teeth together furiously.

"You've had this planned out from the beginning…"

"Yes," L admitted.

"But shouldn't it be her that ultimately makes this choice to join the case?"

Ulrich nodded reluctantly. Ryuzaki peered over at her through his bangs, his head still hunched over his coffee cup as he dropped in more sugar cubes.

"So, Kotone… Are you in, or are you out?"

Though she knew exactly what she would be submitting herself to if she agreed, she did so with no hesitation.

"I want to be a part of this investigation, and I want to catch Kira. I am in."

"Well, we've sure wasted enough time on this. I hope the matter is settled now."

He cast a brief glance at Ulrich, who nodded again, before continuing.

"Well, then, in any case, if you absolutely have to give your name, please use your fake IDs. Also, please be careful not to use them by accident at police headquarters. It could prove troublesome."

There was a unanimous flow of nods throughout the room.

"Understood," Shoichiro spoke on behalf of the police.

"Well, then," L continued laboriously, as if being there was some physically draining task. Which it probably was.

"I'd like you all to wear these belts."

Watari opened a suitcase filled with… belts. But each of them had odd buckles on the front. Kotone studied it closely, before asking,

"Is there something… In the belts?"

"Yes," L answered, unimpressed.

"Transmitters."

"With this, Ryuzaki will know your whereabouts. And if you press it twice, my cell phone will ring." Watari explained, demonstrating by double pressing the belt buckle, which set off his phone, which he immediately reached into his pocket for.

"I will call you back immediately."

"In the morning, you should first go to police headquarters. Then, using this, you should confirm the hotel room and number. Please also use these in case of emergencies."

Kotone's head perked up.

"So, you mean that meetings won't always be at my house?"

"That would draw a lot of suspicion. Something we definitely don't want."

She could have mentally cheered, if she hadn't first realized that she was now dragged into this mess… all by one mere coincidence.

"Cool!" Matsuda piped, jiggling the new belt on his pants.

"It's kinda like we're special agents pursuing Kira!"

"Matsuda!" Shoichiro reprimanded.

"This isn't a game."

"Yes, sir…" Matsuda whined, hanging his head in defeat.

"My apologies that we couldn't retrieve a more… feminine belt, on such short notice," Ryuzaki dulled addressed Kotone.

"I don't mind," She assured him, sliding her own belt through the loops of her pants.

"I don't much like wearing skirts or dresses anyways."

"Well, that's all I have. Watari, do you have anything else to add?"

"No."

"Alright then. Be careful going home."

"Right."

One by one, Shoichiro being the first and Kotone the last, everyone but Watari and Ryuzaki filed from the room.

"Oh, and Kotone?"

She halted in the doorway, dreading having to turn back around now, so close to freedom.

"Yes?"

"I will be stopping by tonight for those piano lessons. Is that alright? With you and your parents, I mean."

"Should be," She replied, trying to hide the disappointment in her voice.

* * *

Hanging her coat up on its respected place on the rack, she gazed around the room, locking the door behind her. Her mother's duffle sat propped against the side of the piano, her father's suitcase in its usual corner across the room.

"_They must be planning on canceling their date again tonight…"_

She ran into the kitchen to find her mother. When she wasn't by the stove, where she usually was this time in the evening when she wasn't out with her father, Kotone bolted upstairs.

Her father being a policeman and her mother an educator at a nearby university, they rarely had time together. So in order to keep the spark in their relationship, as all married couples wished to accomplish, the two went out to dinner, movie, whatever they felt like for an entire evening once a month. But for the past two months, their time together had been called off for various reasons. Her mother would be scheduled for detention that night; her father would work overtime on an investigation. She wanted this streak to discontinue, and, first and foremost, she wanted her father away from Ryuzaki after their feud earlier.

She knocked rhythmically on her parents' bedroom door before opening it. To her delight, and her relief, her mother stood in front of the dresser mirror applying a crimson shade of lipstick. A sign that she was going out in public, someplace formal. Fumes immediately took hold of Kotone's senses, and she nearly took a step back. Her mother smiled at her daughter's reflection through the glass.

"Midnight pomegranate," Kokoro explained sheepishly.

"Your father's favorite scent."

"Well, he certainly won't miss it," Kotone commented, pinching her nose teasingly.

Kokoro giggled, twisting the lipstick back into its tube. She turned and pinched her daughter's check tenderly.

"I was never really one for cosmetics either, but once you find a man who says he likes it on you, you'll see."

"Ha! Doubt it!" She retorted, taking her mother's hand in her own.

She twisted her mom's hand, and gasped in shock at what she saw.

"Is that nail polish? And it matches your lipstick?!"

Kokoro blushed lightly. Kotone laughed heartily.

"You're turning into a real preppy-style kind of girl, mom! If dad is doing this to you, I disown him!"

Kokoro joined in her daughter's laughter.

"I do this for your father- not because of him."

"Same thing."

"It is not! Once you find a man you love, you'll want to wear this same stuff for him. You're just like me, I can tell- You'll feel that you're not beautiful enough for him, and this stuff gives you that extra boost."

Kotone laughed again, dropping her mother's hand.

"If he loved me, he'd love with or without that crap."

"You know," Her mother began, smoothing out the front of her dress… Another thing she hadn't gotten into until the makeup era,

"I never once wore make-up until the day I married your father. That was a first for me. He said that I looked even more beautiful than ever that night. After that, I considered wearing it more often, but it wasn't until after well…"

Her voice trailed off.

"Until after Ichirou had passed away, and dad became so much angrier towards everything," Kotone finished bitterly, the mother-daughter moment shattered worse than broken glass.

Kokoro sighed heavily, reaching for her purse on her bed.

"He wasn't angry at the world, his perspective of everything just… changed. He didn't see things the same way anymore. He realized that these bad things weren't just stories on the news, or cases read in files. He realized that these tragedies could happen to his own family, too. And yes, this change made him angry. But after… that, happened… I felt so useless. Nothing made him happy anymore. But he still told me I looked beautiful when I wore make-up, so I did. I felt it was necessary. I felt it was the one thing I could do to please him as his family… as his wife."

She smiled sadly, and for once, Kotone realized how aged her mother had become.

"Well, your father is already gone. He had to go and be there in order to keep the reservations we made late last month. I hope it's nice there, we had to reserve so far in advance, and then still pay an arm and a leg for it…"

"Well, have fun!" Kotone piped, following her mother out of the room.

Upon reaching the stairs, they heard a classic piano melody being played from the main entrance hallway. _"Mary had a Little Lamb"._

Kotone leapt catlike down the last six steps and rushed into the room. Wild, insomniac eyes reached her own.

"I've been practicing," L explained unnecessarily.

Kotone scratched her neck nervously as a crack addict, her mother prodding her in the side.

"A man with a key to the house, Kotone?"

After their previous conversation, Kotone knew exactly what her mother was hinting at. Her hand, half instinctively, half defensively, reached down and slapped her mother's elbow away from her.

"Not even close."

Ryuzaki turned towards the women on the bench, his left foot rubbing his right.

"My name is Hideki Ryuuga. I plan to attend To-Oh University there this year, though, in my senior high school year, as many of my classmates can attest to, I miss several classes. But it doesn't matter, as I have a personal tutor who has attended there in the past and fills me in on everything I've missed."

He gestured towards Watari, sitting in an armchair beside her father's suitcase. Kotone furrowed her brow as Kokoro smiled politely, taking her jacket off the rack.

"_Hideki Ryuuga…? That horrible pop idol? What the- Where did this psycho come up to go by _that_ of all names all of a sudden?"_

"Nice to meet you! Ironic how you have the same name as that young male singer girls flock over nowadays, isn't it?"

"Mere coincidence."

"Well, I can't say I understand what's going on, but-"

"_Ryuuga_ here as missed so many lessons that are new to the course that his tutor did not take in his days there. So, I gave him a copy of the key to come here so that I could be of assistance."

Kokoro chuckled.

"Well, as long as he's no stranger… I suppose he can stay. Remember, you can always contact me or your father if you need anything."

"Yes, yes… Now get going! Dad will be _furious_ if you are late tonight of all nights!"

"Oh, right! I'll be leaving, then!"

Kotone tapped her foot impatiently, waiting until she heard her mother's car engine fade in the distance to explode.

"You smell very nice. The same scent as your mother. Strange. I didn't see you as a cosmetics sort of lady."

"What the _hell_ do you think you're doing?" She demanded.

"That was a nice cover for me just then. Thank you."

"I didn't do it for you! Barging in my family home, nearly giving my mom a heart attack-"

"It seemed you were the one most startled by my presence here."

"N-no! How did you get a key, anyway? I know my father wouldn't have let you have a spare key-"

"If you really want to keep somebody out, lock your deadbolt next time."

"Be quiet, you, you stalker! And what the hell is up with "Hideki Ryuuga"? After that stupid pop star? What are you playing at, lying to my mom? Just why do you have so many aliases now?"

"To tell the truth, that was made on the spot about an hour ago. I've decided that in order to communicate with those outside of the investigation."

Kotone brought a hand to her head.

"So, this Hideki Ryuuga… you'll use this alias to interact with those who you don't want to know you as L… and in case any of these people happen to be Kira, you want this alias to be of someone famous… like that moronic idol-figure… So that if he tries killing you, he could potentially kill him instead."

"I can see I won't have to explain everything to you. You've just lifted quite the burden from my shoulders."

"Not really. We won't have many private meetings like these… at least I hope not… and there will be at least one who doesn't understand what you say with the entire investigation team…"

"More coffee, Ryuzaki?"

"Yes, please."

He set his cup onto of the piano, where Watari rose to retrieve the coffee pot from its try on the stand beside the piano. Kotone whisked up the cup angrily from under the detective's nose.

"Is there a problem?" He asked, slightly irritated that his cup had been taken hostage.

"Just the fact that you're drinking on _my_ piano! I paid for that myself, with my own funds! Do you have any idea the mess coffee makes on something like this? It'll ruin the woodwork on it!"

"I'm sorry. Watari, bring the entire table over here, would you please?"

"Yes."

Kotone's temper mellowed, and she sat down beside the detective.

"I'm sorry I've snapped at you so much. I just… do not like you, is all. But please don't take that offensively. I do not like anyone involved with police task force."

"But you are involved in the police task force."

Kotone laughed softly.

"I have low self-esteem."

L's fingers went to the keyboard, and played the only tune he knew once again.

"How have you practiced, if you haven't been here?"

"I bought a piano for myself."

Kotone laughed.

"You bought an entire piano, just for at-home lessons?"

"It wasn't as expensive as yours, I can assure you," He replied, gently stroking the top of the piano.

"I bought something very basic. It isn't brand name, but the notes on yours are the notes on mine. That's all I cared about."

"Do you set your coffee of it, too?" She chuckled, humoring herself.

Ryuzaki brought a finger to his chin, thinking.

"It wasn't just me. It's a used piano, and whoever had it before me was just as at fault as me."

There was a short exhale of breath.

"Such abuse… I'd never allow that to happen to any of my instruments…"

"Tell me, why do you hate the police task force members?"

Her shoulders fell, fingers poised over the keys.

"Because… anyone who chooses the life as an investigator ruins the lives of those close to him. I've always noticed that. This doesn't happen to business analysts, or architects, or government officials. It only happens to the detectives. It's a strange pattern, but I've studied it, and it's what I see to be true. All because it consumes their life. For example…"

She dropped her hands to her lap, turning to face L.

"Tell me the kind of life you have. Outside of your cases, I mean."

The detective stared blankly at her, silent.

"Exactly!" She exclaimed, shifting her position again.

"It would make sense that the further one is up the ladder in the task forces, the worse of a personal life they have! And, since you're the best, you have the worst personal life."

She ticked them off on her fingers as she went.

"No girlfriend, I can guarantee that, no real hobbies aside from your work, and definitely no sleep."

Ryuzaki glared at her over his coffee cup as he sipped as if the demand, "So what's your point?"

"But see- Since my dad became more involved in the task force, he and I have never bonded anymore. He used to take me to the park, on walks, to carnivals, festivals- He doesn't do any of that anymore. I never used to be afraid of him before, but now… And my mom- He neglects her for work. He's cancelled dates with her more times than I can count, when canceling used to be a rarity. And me- It's so frightening, but I've seen myself change, too. I upset me mom because I've never had a steady boyfriend before- Crushes, but since I made up my mind about being on the task force, love just wasn't a priority for me. And hobbies- I've always loved music, and all the arts, but it wasn't until my parents banned me from being on the task force that I really started playing as a _hobby_. I mean- five years ago, my hobby was looking at files of those accused of crimes, but not yet proven guilty, and putting together the pieces to come to a self decision as to whether or not they were guilty. It wasn't until then that I realized how involved I'd become."

She took a breath, and then gazed at Ryuzaki.

"As investigators, we have no life aside from our work. I knew that you coming into this investigation would only mean that you'd be taking my father deeper into places I didn't want him to be, and- call it selfish, and immaturity, or whatever, but- but I want my dad back! This whole lifestyle, it took my brother in one way, it took my father in another, and I know it sounds strange, but I look at you, and I can see that you're unhappy. I look at you, and I can see myself just like you in a few years- Smart and philosophical, but utterly alone. It's your mind that keeps you tied to this world, and I have nowhere near the brains you do, so if I'm like you, but I'm not smart, what will I…?"

She sighed suddenly, blinking. Her fingers stroked her bottom lip gingerly.

"I'm sorry. I'm rambling. And I just made you sound like a horrible person, when I don't know you at all. It's just… Never mind."

Ryuzaki added more sugar cubes to his coffee, staring down into it with wide eyes.

"The strange thing is, Kotone… I can completely agree with everything you've just said."

* * *

"Hi mom, dad! How was your date together?"

"Lovely," Kokoro swooned, latched to her husband's arm.

"Decent," Ulrich commented, glancing down at his watch.

"Would have been better if that damn waiter hadn't kept us waiting so long to get us a table. Knew those high school kids were no good for facility like that. Makes the whole place look like a dump."

He gazed up, and his steely gaze grew even harsher as he saw Ryuzaki. He opened his mouth to speak, when Kotone interrupted.

"This is Hideki Ryuuga," She blurted so quickly that her words slurred together.

Her father's completion contorted from one of anger into one of sheer puzzlement.

"He's a senior right now, but he aspires to attend To-Oh next year."

Her voice slowed down, became clearer. She cleared her throat before adding,

"He's very smart, but his tutor has to help him because he misses so many of his classes."

"Kotone was helping him with some of the newer course work, bless her," Kokoro piped happily, detaching herself from her husband to hang up her coat.

Hands in his pockets, he shuffled towards to door.

"I'd better be going. Next week, then."

"Yeah… I guess so…"

"Well, we can decide later what time fits our schedule."

He almost soundlessly shut the door behind him as he left, Watari following out with the tray is his hands. Ulrich scoffed as he followed suit in his wife and hung up his own jacket.

"Kid can't even say good-bye, or good night. What mannerisms he was taught, I'm afraid to know."

"Well, I though he was a nice boy. The first boy Kotone's invited to the house, anyway."

"Strictly professional," Kotone insisted in a monotone voice.

Kokoro smiled.

"He's a strange man, I'll admit, but he seems nice enough."

"Speak for yourself," Ulrich scoffed.

Kokoro's smiled faded.

"Why do you say that, dear?"

Ulrich smiled mischeviously.

"Let's just say he's quite the juvenile. We've had him in the station a few times."

His wife's hand went to her mouth.

"He's a trouble-maker…?"

"No," Kotone defended.

"Well, be careful honey. I'd hate to see you with a criminal, of all people."

"He isn't-!"

But it was no use. Her mother was already on her way upstairs. Her father chuckled mockingly. She glowered dangerously at him.

"Some policeman. Lying unjustly about another."

"It was no lie. He is childish, he admitted it himself. And he is in the station often."

"But you knew that wasn't how mom would take that."

Her father shrugged, then proceeded up the stairs. Kotone crossed her arms stubbornly, a million thoughts going through her mind. She would sort things out eventually. Sort things out with her father, with Ryuzaki, with herself. Eventually… but not now.

* * *

"_Without music, life would be an error."_


	3. Premonition

I should probably mention something here. A little disclaimer before I'm in trouble, if you will. I don't own Death Note, nor do I pretend to. This is just my own little story of how I believe things should have turned out in Death Note… Lawliet should have known the feeling of falling in love. Of course, adding my little original characters Kotone and Ulrich into the mix gives everything a twist, so it isn't exactly how it could've played out, since neither were obviously ever in the anime. But if you know of a female who was the peanut butter to Lawliet's jelly who appeared in the Death Note anime, please, do tell. :3

* * *

_"What should I do…?"_

Several figures stood before here, their identities masked in shadows. One of the people posed a danger, a shadow in the center of the group, for he held a knife. He tossed it up in the air, catching it by the blade each time he threw it up. The others seemed oblivious to him as they conversed with one another a soft murmur filling the otherwise empty space. Only two were completely silent- the man with the dagger, and another who hunched as he paced back and forth about the circle. Taking a step forward, she reached out for them.

"_If only I could reach them, I could- !"_

It was then she realized that she could try calling to them. Her lips moved, but her voice was mute. Grasping at her throat, she stumbled forward once again.

"_I could go there myself- but what if I just put myself in danger with the rest of them?"_

Suddenly, the pacing figure halted. He turned, and lifted a slender finger to the one throwing the knife. Everyone grew silent, and the buzz faded away. The silhouette with the knife faltered, and after he caught the knife again, he didn't throw it back up again. He turned his head, and for the first time, she noticed that this man (or woman) had bright red eyes that pierced the depths of the dark. They narrowed as he glared at the figure pointing at him. He reaching into his pocket, and pulled out a knife smaller than the one he's been throwing earlier. Reaching back, he threw the smaller knife, and it pierced the chest of one figure. It fell to the floor with a deaf thud, its face and torso in the light. She didn't recognize the face, but blood was drained from his face, as he was abnormally pale. She gently touched his hand, and jerked it back almost immediately.

He was stone cold, as if he'd been dead for hours.

One by one, several more began to fall into heaps on and around the original man, both men and women, of all ages of adulthood. No one even seemed to notice that their numbers were rapidly declining, and none seemed to notice what the red-eyed man was doing; nobody except for the hunched man, who was still pointed accusingly at the shadow-cloaked assassin. Finally, a person fell that she recognized.

An older man, in about his late fifties, clad in a name brand business suit collapsed on the floor. His tidy graying hair was astray, his hazel eyes wide and lifeless. She dropped to her knees, tears stinging her eyes.

"D… dad?"

She cupped the man's face in her hands, brushing her fingers several times over his rough cheeks as moisture threatened to spill from her eyes. She became completely unaware of the bodies continuing to fall, until the man pointing dropped his hand. She gazed up, and noticed that he was the only one to be struck with the original, thicker knife the man bore. His arm swayed at his side, then his body eventually caved in to gravity. When he hit the floor, a new wave of sorrow filled her, her cyan eyes widening in horror.

"…Ryuzaki?"

The man with the knife turned, and stared directly at her, and threw yet another slimmer knife at her head.

* * *

Kotone awoke with a start, heart thundering in her throat, beads of sweat collecting on her forehead, silently thankful for the precision of the timing her cell phone had. She fumbled for the device on the nightstand in the dark, knocking over numerous pens and a pad of paper in the process. Her fingers found it, instantly coiling around the phone, glancing at the digital clock beside her bed.

"…What?! Three a.m.?! Who in the world would be calling me at this time?!"

Flipping the phone opening, and not recognizing the incoming number, either, she answered with skeptic grogginess,

"Hello? Who is this?"

"Hope I didn't wake you."

Her heart seemed to settle down a little. She was so relieved to hear his voice to be angry with him.

"Ryuzaki. Is everything okay?"

"Yes," He answered after a moment's pause, before continuing,

"Would you mind coming down to Headquarters for a little while, please? I'd like you all here for some reviewing. I've already informed everyone else, we're all waiting for you and Mr. Ide."

"Umm…" She wasn't sure how well this went over with her father, being so rudely awoken by one he wasn't particularly fond of.

"I can. I'll be there in a half hour."

"Please try to make it here quicker than that."

"Well, I can try to, but-"

It wasn't until she heard a dial tone that she realized she was talking to no one but an empty receiver. She frowned at the phone in slight distaste.

"_What is it with this guy and good-byes?"_

Kotone smiled anyway, throwing back the covers from her body as she opened her wardrobe.

Something about that horrifying nightmare and hearing that they were all still alive gave her a bit of satisfaction that wouldn't bring her down.

* * *

"I brought doughnuts!"

"Doughnuts and ice cream don't go together," Ulrich grumbled, his eyelids drooping.

He glared at Ryuzaki at his frozen treat, then at the array of screens in front of him, as if he thought staring angrily enough at them would make them go away and allow him to go back to sleep. He was having no such luck.

"This is… the footage that CCTV cameras that happened to capture the FBI agents who died in Japan on film," Aizawa droned.

He, too, like everyone else except for Ryuzaki and Kotone, it seemed, was having extreme trouble staying awake. His eyelids drooped, and he massaged the bridge of his nose as he shook his head lightly, as if trying to shake of his weariness. His method was working as well as Ulrich's intimidation approach. Ryuzaki bit off the top of his ice cream cone, devouring through the doughnuts with his eyes as Kotone set them down on the table before him.

"Show me the following scenes involving Raye Pember one more time: him at the ticket barrier, boarding the train, and his death scene, please."

"So the American investigators are the reviewing you spoke of?" Kotone questioned.

"No. Just Raye."

He glanced at the screens, then back at the round treats in front of him as the tape was located though the mess of tapes, inserted into the VCR, and rewound.

"Are those Boston crème?"

"The chocolate iced ones are. The ones with the white icing are raspberry filled, and those glazed ones are just plain," She replied, fishing out a Boston crème.

"Would you like one?"

"Yes, please. Thank you," He answered, taking the doughnut as his attention returned to the screens.

"Let's see…" Matsuda recited from a paper he held, barely awake.

"Raye Pember arrived at Shinjuku station via the west entrance at 15:11. At 15:13, he boards the Yamanote line. Even if he was following someone, it's difficult to tell due to the fuzzy images."

Watari began scooping out ice cream to hand out to the investigators, (whom Kotone thought was taking the initiative to do so only because he'd heard her father's complaining,) which most happily took, especially Kotone. Matsuda and Kotone were the only ones to properly thank the man.

"Err… And then at 16:42, he died on the platform at Tokyo station," Matsuda finished.

"Just as I thought," Ryuzaki announced.

"It's odd."

"But, the Yamanote line only takes an hour to do a full circuit. If Raye was on the train from 15:13 to 16:42, he was on the train longer than necessary." Kotone mused.

Ryuzaki took a large bit first from the ice cream, then from the doughnut.

"From what's been said," He started,

"We can deduce that between the time he boarded at the time he died, Raye Pember was on the Yamanote line, which takes an hour to do a full to circuit, for an hour and a half."

"The important thing to note is the envelope."

"Huhn?! What envelope?" Kotone questioned.

"If you'd been here earlier, and had seen these tapes, you'd know, what envelope," L addressed her.

She stuck her tongue out childishly at him. Ryuzaki rewound the tape with the remote.

"Both by the ticket barrier and on the platform, he seems to be carrying an envelope or something similar."

He paused the tape as Raye was passing the ticket barrier. Just as L had said, there was a manila envelope tucked under his arm.

"Oh! Y-you're right!" Aizawa exclaimed.

"But the moments preceding his death… it vanished."

"There's nothing mentioned on the lost properties list," Chief Yagami noted.

"And in this final scene with Pember," Ryuzaki continued,

"It seems to me that he is frantically trying to see inside the train."

"Then he must've left this envelope on the train…" Kotone pieced together.

"Or, more likely… He met someone on the train, and gave it to them. This would explain why he was on there so long…"

She gazed back at L, her eyes wide and thoughtful.

"If Raye died on the platform, of a heart attack, maybe it was Kira on the train that he met, who was blackmailing him?" She suggested.

"I-it can't be!" Shoichiro Yagami exclaimed.

"I doubt it too… If Kira can manipulate deaths from a distance, they wouldn't bother coming to the scene," L agreed solemnly.

Kotone suddenly felt foolish.

"But if that's what we're supposed to believe… they may have done something extremely daring there."

He took another bite out of his ice cream. Kotone nibbled on her doughnut, unsure if L approved of her theory or not. She'd almost wished she'd just kept it to herself.

* * *

For the second time that day, Kotone received a rude awakening from a cell phone. Although this time, it wasn't hers, but Matsuda's. Her eyes cracked open, jolted up by a hand that flashed out in front of her face, snatching the device from Matsuda's unsuspecting hands. She sat up abruptly, fidgeting ashamedly on the couch. Glancing over, she noticed a spot of drool on Matsuda's shoulder, causing her cheeks to flush.

"Hello, head of the Kira incident public information hotline, Suzuki speaking," Ryuzaki's voice recited.

His eyes lightened, standing up slightly straighter.

"Raye Pember's fiancé?"

He turned to Watari, who was seated before a laptop computer.

"Naomi Misora… Where have I heard that name before…?"

Watari typed her name into his database, and turned the laptop towards Ryuzaki. He must have recognized her, because his eyes became wider. After a few seconds, his eyes went back to their lazy droop. He hung up the cell phone, and Matsuda stood up to retrieve it.

"She disappeared a few days after her fiancé Pember died," He announced.

"Anyone would be depressed if their fiancé had just died," Matsuda defended.

Kotone climbed upwards, propping her elbows on the back of the couch.

"She didn't commit suicide, did she?" She chimed.

"No," L replied firmly.

"The Naomi Misora that I knew was strong of heart and a brilliant FBI investigator. If anything, she would have been trying to catch Kira."

Kotone's eyes softened.

"So, in other words… She became a nuisance to Kira."

Ryuzaki didn't answer.

"Everyone. From now on we'll be investigating those who were under surveillance by Raye Pember. The subjects will be two police members and their immediate family."

"Who are the police officers?" Kotone wondered aloud, mostly to herself.

"Deputy Kitamura and his family, and, Chief Yagami and his family. I'd also like to be able to set up cameras and bugging devices throughout both households."

"Surveillance cameras… Ryuzaki?!" Aizawa defended.

"That's out of the question."

"If that gets out, it'll become a civil liberties issue; we'll all be fired."

"I thought we'd all put our lives on the line here, not just our jobs," Ryuzaki reminded them.

"Ryuzaki, what's the probability of Kira being among one of the concerned families?" Shoichiro questioned darkly.

"10 percent... No, 5 percent."

"You're going to do all that based on a 5 percent probability?" Matsuda demanded.

"Up till now, we haven't even encountered anyone remotely suspicious," Kotone pointed out, half on Ryuzaki's side, half sympathetic for Yagami. She knew that unlike Kitamura, Chief Yagami had females in his household. A wife, at least, where Kitamura was a bachelor with three sons.

"Even if it's a 1 percent probability, I'd say it's worth looking into. I mean, what other leads do we have?"

"Kotone, keep your mouth shut," Ulrich ordered.

"You'd feel very differently if it were you who were to be under surveillance."

Kotone did shut her mouth. She knew her father was right.

"I regret that my own family falls under suspicion," Yagami replied bitterly,

"…Very well. Please set it up. I'd like the whole house covered up, from the bathrooms to the toilet, I don't want to find a single place overlooked!"

"Thank you, Chief Yagami."

"Chief!" Matsuda cried.

"You can't do this! You have a wife and daughter!"

"I realize that! I know what I'm saying! However, if we don't do it thoroughly, then there's no point in doing it at all! Just shut it!"

Matsuda froze.

"Sorry…"

"No, it's fine."

He left the room without another word. Ryuzaki sat down on the couch opposite of Kotone.

"Out of respect for Chief Yagami and his family, he and I will be the only ones to carry out surveillance of his family."

"I want to, as well," Kotone added.

"Not a chance," Ulrich scoffed.

"You know, Chief Yagami and his son, Light Yagami are both male, correct?" Ryuzaki asked.

Kotone glared at him.

"I never would have guessed without your enlightenment."

"Hmm, is that so? Then perhaps you shouldn't be involved in- "

"I know I know!!" She piped quickly.

"It's called sarcasm!"

"Why are you interested in this at all?" L questioned.

"Someone has to keep you in check," Was her smart ass reply.

"What are you talking about?" L asked.

"You know, Mrs. Yagami and her daughter are both female, right?"

L stared, analyzing her.

"What are you implying?" He demanded.

"Hold your tongue, Kotone! You will not partake in- !"

"I have no problem with your involvement, but you will have to consult Chief Yagami."

He then turned to Watari, still loyal to the computer.

"Watari, how long will it take to set up surveillance cameras and monitors?"

"Once we know the times during which each of the households will be vacant, we can set them up any time from tomorrow onwards."

Ryuzaki nodded.

"Well, in that case, I guess that's all for today."

Kotone sprang up almost instantly, the first one to reach the door.

"Oh, and- Kotone?"

She froze.

"_Son of a-! This _always_ happens right as I'm about to leave!!"_

"I won't be going to your house for piano lessons anymore," He told her.

Kotone whipped around, Aizawa, Mogi, and the majority of the others passing her through the door.

"Why… Might I ask?"

"Well, with a new lead and all, it isn't exactly like we have the free time on our hands anymore…"

"I see," She replied, trying to mask the glee from her voice.

"That's… too bad."

"Mhmm."

Aside from her, L, and Watari, one other person stood loitering in the room. Matsuda.

"Matsuda, you can leave now," L reminded him.

Matsuda awkwardly scratched the back of his head, a sheepish look on his face.

"Well, I was going to wait for Koto-chan to leave to ask, but I guess…"

"Koto-chan?_"_ Kotone thought agitatedly.

"_Since when did I give anyone permission to dub me with pet names?"_

"Anything you have to say to me can be said in front of her."

"Th-that's not exactly what I meant…"

He laughed nervously, his voice cracking at odd moments. Ryuzaki helped himself to another cone of ice cream.

"I- I was wanting to talk to Koto-chan… in private…"

"There are no secrets between any of us," Kotone reprimanded, walking over to her doughnut box in front of L.

One left. Perfect. She smiled as she plucked it from the box.

"I… I… I-"

"Matsuda, please spit it out," She sighed between bites.

"Kotone!" Matsuda declared with a sudden rush of determination and gut.

"I- I'd like to ask you out to the Noh Theatre tonight!"

The smile immediately vanished. Her body forbade all movements, even stopping in mid-chew. Only her eyes were allowed to move, and as she saw the ghost of a smile cross his lips, she wanted to flip the stupid couch L sat upon. Matsuda took her horrified pause as a thoughtful one, and continued. He began ticking off on his fingers the assets.

"I'll take you out to dinner afterwards, and then I'll take you home! I've already asked your father, he approved, and I've been saving up all week just in hopes that you'd say yes, and-!"

She was tuning him out as he ranted. Closing her eyes, she shook her head lightly back and forth.

"_Damn."_

The one excuse she'd immediately thought of, her father, was already null and void. She'd have to think harder of a way to reject him politely. Apparently, Matsuda had stopped speaking, because Ryuzaki put in his two cents.

"I think you should go. This is one night you're free. For the next few days, weeks, maybe, we'll be constantly monitoring the Yagami and Kitamura households. You won't have any leisure time for a while after tonight. You should take advantage of that."

"_Shut up, damn you!"_

That is what she wanted to scream. She stopped shaking her head, and gazed over at Ryuzaki. It was hard to tell from his expression whether or not he was teasing her.

"Matsuda, I'm sorry, but I'm not interested."

Matsuda's face fell.

"Why not? You don't like theatre? Well we don't have to go there! We can go anywhere you want to go to; I'll pay for it all-!"

"It isn't anything personal I have against you, Matsuda," Kotone interrupted as kindly as possible, though firm enough to get her point across.

"I just don't date."

"Maybe it's time for a change," Ryuzaki suggested.

"Wha- Would you just be quiet?!"

The hint of a smile on his lips became more distinct as he bit into his ice cream.

"Please, Koto-chan!"

"Be a lady," L pressed, quietly amused.

"It's rude to refuse when he's offering. Who knows? Perhaps you'll enjoy yourself."

Not being the type to crush a young man's heart, she shot a final glare at Ryuzaki before addressing Matsuda.

"Fine. I'll go. But under one condition."

"Alright!" Matsuda cheered, oblivious to the fact that there was a condition.

"Just keep your distance. I swear, if I find your hand or any other part of your body anywhere it isn't supposed to be, I'll show you that there are worse things than death-"

"I'll pick you up tonight at five p.m. sharp!" Matsuda announced before bolting out the door.

Her eye twitched as Watari came over to the couch.

"More coffee?"

"Yes, please, Watari. Thank you."

He noticed the evil eye he was receiving from Kotone, and then added,

"And pour a glass for Kotone so that she may up all night."

"I hate you," She seethed, heading for the door, stuffing the remainder of the doughnut into her mouth.

"With a burning passion of one thousand suns, I hate you."

"Passion is a very strong emotion," L retorted after her.

"That is a sin to feel passion for someone right before you go on an outing with another."

She shut the door behind her, deciding to leave that last comment alone. He may have won the battle, that L, but the war was far from over.

* * *

"Oh, this one is pretty, dear! Go try this one on in the bathroom-!"

"Mom, this is a date, not a wedding party," Kotone reminded her mother.

She prodded the formal dress back into the closet carefully, as if it were diseased. Kokoro giggled, smoothing out the wrinkles.

"Well, alright, but how about this one?"

Kotone froze when she saw it. Before her now was one of the shortest dresses she'd ever seen in her life. It was black leather, with a cleavage and trim of red satin. It took a moment to regain her composure before commenting.

"I try to retain as much dignity as possible. _That_ creation will make that exceedingly difficult."

"Oh, you're so picky!"

"No, I just don't want to plan our wedding on the first date- Matsuda might just get the wrong idea and pick out the cake tomorrow morning. Nor do I want to like he just picked me up on the corner of some drug street."

"Then what would you like to wear?"

"I'd _like_ to wear these-"

"You're not wearing sweatpants."

"C'mon-!"

Their mother-daughter bickering was cut short by the ringing of a phone. Kokoro picked up her daughter's cell phone.

"Odd. Who ever calls here with a restricted phone number? Don't we have a block against those?"

Kotone snatched the phone from her mother, a vague idea of who it might be. Unfortunately, her hunch was right.

"Hello?"

"Just wishing you good luck tonight."

Kotone's knuckles turned white as she held the phone out in front of her face.

"Don't you have some tapes to be watching or something?!"

"No. If I did, I wouldn't have bothered to call you."

"I thought you were only supposed to call in case of emergencies?" She demanded, keeping a wary eye one her mother.

"I had a few spare moments."

"You could've done anything at all, and you decide to irritate me?"

"You're irritated?"

"Go away," She replied curtly, snapping the phone shut.

Before she did so, she could've sworn she heard laughter. But him laughing was out of the question… wasn't it?

"Who was that, hon?" Her mother questioned.

"Hideki Ryuuga."

"Oh! That boy," Kokoro mused aloud.

"Is he really in and out of there so often, like a felon?"

"Yes, but he's not in trouble. His uncle Watari works there, so he visits often."

She hated lying like this to her mother, but what choice did she have? Kokoro smiled softly.

"I'm glad. He's an odd one. I like him, though. Not that I have anything against Matsuda, but it should be him you're going out with tonight, not that senseless boy."

Kotone could feel the color run to her cheeks. Out of embarrassment or anger, she didn't know. She turned to probe her closet again.

"I'm going to take you shopping someday soon. You have no pretty dresses- and the ones you do have are all hand-me-downs from relatives. I don't think I've bought you a nice dress- or even a skirt- since you were seven."

"That's because I don't like them. If I did, I would've bought them myself, mom."

"I wish you were more feminine-"

"I don't."

"Hey, Kotone. Got you somethin'."

Kotone turned to the speaker, who happened to be her father. He held up an oblong bag. Smiling softly, she thanked her father. Even better than getting a once-in-a-blue-moon gift from him, she knew he definitely wouldn't have gotten her a wedding or hooker dress. But knowing his tastes in formality, he probably got her some ballroom dress. But to surprise, as she laid the parcel down on her bed and rolled up the bag, she found that she actually liked it- or, at least, liked it as much as she _could_ like a dress. It was a mid-night blue ankle-length dress, with a type of greenish sheen to it. As for the sleeves, there were none- it was a spaghetti strap, much to her distaste. But overall…

"I knew how you hate the lot of them," Ulrich began,

"And I tried to take your tastes into consideration. I know how you like darker clothing, and that for some bizarre reason, you hate your arms- but all the long-sleeved ones were tacky, or fit only for a wedding."

She smiled to herself, before turning around and grasping her father around the neck in an embrace.

"It's nothing, dad. I love it. Thank you."

Ulrich seemed torn as far as what to do next. But with an encouraging glance from his wife, he returned the embrace to his daughter.

"You're welcome… Sweetie."

* * *

"You look… amazing, Koto-chan!" Matsuda complimented for the fiftieth time that evening.

Always different words, but always the same meaning. She didn't have anything against Matsuda. No, her vendetta was just against love.

"Err… Thanks, Matsuda."

"I'm really glad you decided to come after all. I guess I have to thank Ryuzaki for that little push he gave you, huh?"

He began laughing nervously as the two walked down a street of mainly restaurant. The Noh Theatre performance had gone by eventless, much to Kotone's pleasure. The last the she wanted was this awkward boy trying to pull the classic yet corny yawn and stretch move across her shoulders. He'd have probably slapped her across the face, or gouged some innocent bystander's defenseless eye out. He must've known this, too, because he never tried anything like it.

"Well, I was thinking something along the lines of tempura or something, but I'm up for whatever you want."

Kotone thought for a moment.

"How about sushi?"

"Eww, sushi?! You like that stuff?"

He was silent a moment, before adding,

"Sounds great! I know of one just on Kozaku…"

"Matsuda, if you don't like sushi, then- "

"No, no! It's fine, Koto-chan! I know where one is that has both a sushi bar and traditional cuisine, so let's go!"

He took her hand and sprinted down the street.

Matsuda pulled up in the Ide driveway, barely waiting for the car to stop before hoping out of it and running to open Kotone's door. Sighing, she stepped out into the humid night air once more.

"Thanks, Matsuda, but you know, you didn't have to open every door you come across for me."

"Oh, I know! But, it's the gentlemanly thing to do… right?"

He scratched his head, as if about to ask something.

"Well, I had a nice time, Matsuda. Thanks, for everything."

And it wasn't a lie. Matsuda hadn't hit on her once, and when she wasn't helping him regain his balance from tripping over a rug, she had enjoyed herself to an extent… after she fooled herself into thinking that this was just like an outing with her mother… without her mother.

"Yeah, so did I! I really did, you know…"

And then, without warning, Matsuda's face shot forward and gave her a peck on the cheek before scrambling back to his car.

"G'night!" He called out the window, backing out of the driveway.

Kotone glared up at the North Star, crossing her arms.

"How pleasant…"

"Would have been better if he hadn't taken off after he'd done so," Came an unpleasantly familiar voice.

Kotone spun around, and saw the one she didn't want to see the most. Her tongue fumbled behind her lips for a comeback.

"What the hell are you doing here?" She demanded of the detective.

Ignoring the question, his eyes fell on her feet, and a smile flickered across his features, disappearing as quickly as it had come.

"Tennis shoes?"

"So?"

"I have to commend your creativity. I knew you'd find a way around formality."

"What are you doing here, Ryuzaki?" She repeated.

"I'm here to ask your assistance on installing cameras in the Yagami household," He explained finally.

"Chief Yagami agreed that you could join him and me, just as long as I didn't include a crowd. Which I never intended to."

"And you couldn't call me to tell me this?"

"Actually, I left my cell phone with Watari, as his is broken and needs to be repaired. I've asked him to call your cell phone in case of emergency, as that was where I'd be. He's with Mogi, Aizawa and Ukita at the Kitamura household, installing the necessary equipment while they were away on vacation. Since they're getting back early tomorrow evening, it would obviously be best to get the task done tonight."

"…You couldn't wait until tomorrow?"

"Tomorrow we'll be installing them in the Yagami household."

"You couldn't call me in the morning to tell me all this?"

"I'd prefer we all stay one step ahead. Please call Matsuda now and inform him of what I've just told you. I've already told your father such."

Scrolling through her programmed numbers in the cell phone, she came to a realization.

"Wait… call my number in case of emergency, since that's where you'll be? Be until how long exactly?"

"Until Watari comes to take us to the Yagami household, while his wife is at work and his children at school."

"You are not spending the night at my house."

"Your father said it was alright."

"Well, I'm telling you it's not."

"Why?"

She hesitated, thinking of an answer to this question. Clenching her teeth, she pressed the dial button on Matsuda's number. She handed the phone over to L. It barely rang once before he answered.

"Koto-chan!" Kotone heard Matsuda's excited voice chime.

"I didn't expect to hear from you so-!"

"Matsuda, this is Ryuzaki," L interrupted.

Matsuda grew quiet for a second. He spoke again, but what he said was too low for Kotone to hear from where she stood.

"Mogi, Aizawa and Ukita are at the Kitamura household, installing the necessary equipment while they were away on vacation. You, Chief Yagami, Ulrich, Kotone and I are going to the Yagami household tomorrow afternoon at eleven a.m. Please be there by then."

He then snapped the phone shut and put it in his pocket.

"You won't be needing that anytime between now and eleven tomorrow morning, will you?"

"No."

"Good."

He turned to go inside, when Kotone challenged him.

"I know there's some underlying reason as to why you're here."

L stopped on the porch.

"If you can buy a piano so suddenly, then I know you can afford a new cell phone on a whim. It took me months to save up for the one I have. Yours may not be as expensive, but no piano isn't expensive, if you want it to work, anyway. You've got to have some budget to spend the way you seem to."

L ignored her, and opened the front door. Kotone followed him inside persistently.

"Do you enjoy stalking me?"

Ryuzaki sat down on the couch, beside of her mother, who smiled warmly at him. Ulrich grunted from the armchair beside the fireplace. The room was dim, the only light sources being a lamp, and the light filtering in from the kitchen.

"Your mother and father don't mind," Ryuzaki retorted with a smug glance at her.

"Speak for yourself…" Ulrich grumbled under his breath.

"What's wrong, dear?" Kokoro questioned, rising to her feet.

She walked over to her daughter, who kicked off her tennis shoes into the music room before she was busted with them.

"You can't be serious?" She asked.

"Letting him stay here?"

"But dear! Didn't Hideki tell you his situation?"

Kotone froze. Did L seriously tell her mother about the whole predicament?

"Umm… Yeah, he did…" She replied, playing in neutral, just in case.

"Then let him stay here, just tonight! He's your friend."

Kokoro waved her finger accusingly in front of her daughter's flustered face.

"If anything, it should be you asking to keep him here, not your parents! You're backwards, sweetie."

"She is," Ryuzaki commented.

He sat with his legs against his chest, hands resting upon his knees.

"You're one to talk," She snapped sarcastically, eyeing his weird position.

"Kotone!" Kokoro scolded.

"Be polite! He's had such a bad day already with his car breaking down a mile back!"

"_Ah,"_ Kotone realized.

_"So he is pulling another fib here. No wonder dad is being so quiet. I should've known. He's made it second nature to lie to my mother."_

"Yeah, really heart-breaking. If he'd just remembered to bring his cell-"

"He left his phone at home. He said he left it on his counter at home, then it had disappeared."

"I bet his uncle Watari took it," Kotone shot.

Her mother's eyes grew alight as she turned to L. He eyed Kotone curiously.

"There's an idea. Would you like to call your uncle and see if he'll come pick you up, dear?"

"No," He replied finally.

"My uncle and I share the same cell phone, unfortunately. If he took it with him, then he must need it, and I'd hate to bother him while he's at the station."

"Oh, I see… Well, he can pick you up tomorrow, can't he?"

"Yes."

"In that case, Kotone, dear, go make sure the guest bedroom is tidy, wouldn't you, please?"

"Anything for Hideki…" She droned beneath her breath.

She walked upstairs to the guest bedroom, Ryuzaki tailing right behind her. Upon entering the room, she shut the door quietly before rounding on the detective.

"Stop following me!!"

"This is where I am sleeping."

"Get out!" She hissed, pointing towards the door.

L rebelliously crawled into the bed, sitting on the pillow.

"Since your number doesn't come up as restricted, as Matsuda knew who was calling him, I hope your phone is a Verizon."

"It is," She replied, watching him turn the phone aimlessly in his hands.

"Good. Then if I decide to call someone, I can restrict this number so that they cannot call you back."

"Great. But don't make calls to all of China and their mother."

"Rest assured. I will only call someone in case of emergency, or if I have a reason to."

"I don't know. Calling me that time like you did before I went with Matsuda solely to torture me didn't seem like much of an emergency to me."

"Well, I was going to tell you about bugging the Yagami household then, but you hung up on me."

Kotone felt her stomach drop.

"So you mean to tell me… If I'd heard it then, you wouldn't be here now?"

"No, I suppose I wouldn't be."

Kotone snapped.

"Why didn't you tell me then?" She fumed.

"Why didn't you just spit it out as soon as you called?!"

"I was getting to it."

"You had this all planned out! I _knew_ it! Why are you here?!"

"You give me too much credit."

"No, I don't think I do! You could have contacted my father and asked him to pass the knowledge onto me! But no, you come here in person, with all these excuses! Sorry, Ryuzaki, I'm not that stupid- !"

"Kotone, your mother and I are going to bed, so be a little quieter when arguing with… Hideki. And don't stay up too late."

Her voice dropped to a hiss.

"I hope you know that I've got my eyes on you, stalker!"

L set the phone down on the stand.

"I guess, if it'll keep you quiet, then yes. I do have my reasons for coming here personally aside from those I've already mentioned."

"I knew it!"

"But those reasons are confidential. I'm not going to disclose them to you."

"Why not?"

L rose from the bed, looking Kotone straight in the eye.

"Though I said I suspected no one on the investigation team as Kira, I won't lie to you about how I _truly_ feel. I still suspect _you_ to be Kira."

She froze, stunned. Of all comebacks, she could safely say that that was not one she had expected. As bad as timing as it might have been, Kotone couldn't help but to allow a smile to cross her lips.

"You think I am Kira?" Kotone asked slowly, highly amused.

"If this is true, and you really suspect me, then why are you still investigating the other two investigators?"

"It's only about a one percent chance, I'd say," Ryuzaki admitted.

"And they are about 5 percent. So the Kitamura and Yagami households are still worth investigating. Though I am suspicious of you, I'm also curious as to what happened with Raye Pember, and those he was investigating."

"So tell me…" Kotone persisted.

"Why do you suspect me at all?"

"The other day, when you told me about your concerns of being an investigator, I realized something. Though I was almost completely sure that you couldn't be Kira, after that speech, I had to reconsider. It wouldn't be strange for someone in your position, someone who has lost a brother physically to criminals, and a father mentally to them, to try and kill off criminals. There'd be less of them, and you'd hope that after that, you'd have your father back, if the world was void of all wrong doers. Especially with the way you feel towards investigators, I don't see how you'd have a problem killing one. Raye Pember and the other agents, for example."

Kotone laughed bitterly, shaking her head.

"I wish I were that smart. You're mistaken Ryuzaki."

"Maybe you're right. Maybe not. But until I'm one hundred percent sure that you are in fact not Kira, you won't be the only one keeping a close eye on the other."

She shook her head, chuckling to herself.

"I think I'm more flattered than insulted. Offended, that you think I could kill, flattered, to think that you think I'm that intelligent-"

"You're definitely no idiot."

"Yes, well, everything makes itself clear in time."

"I agree."

* * *

"_A good composer is slowly discovered a bad composer is slowly found out."_

-Ernest Newman


	4. Wired

I'm sorry about the delay here. I haven't been very motivated to do much, and I'd made a resolution to be more so during the summer... Well, so much for that. Well, here is my fourth installation anyways. Please enjoy.

* * *

It was an unmerciful night's sleep that night, as she had the same dream as the night before. She whimpered and moaned in sheer pain of the contorted look of agony on her father's face in her sleep. As much as she disliked Ryuzaki, she wished no harm on him- especially not death. Her voice was rendered useless; the sound barely reached past her own ears. It wasn't until Ryuzaki suddenly opened his dark eyes from the ground and spoke that she was permitted to scream aloud.

"Kotone, wake up."

Her eyes shot open, and she instantly began gasping for air as if she'd been underwater several minutes, and on the verge of drowning. L, crouching over her, his legs on either side of her waist, peered down at her, inches from her face. His finger was in his ear as if he'd just been nearly deafened, which, Kotone reminded herself, he probably had. Dropping his hand, he popped an animal cracker into his mouth from the bag in his hands.

"You are a heavy sleeper," He informed her.

It took Kotone a few seconds to register what was happening, and just where L was. In a burst of shock and anger, she sat up abruptly. L, however, was prepared, and leapt out of the line of fire, jumping off the bed as Kotone nearly flipped over herself when she hit nothing but air.

"What are you doing?" She demanded.

"You sleep like a rock," He commented.

"Not only that, but you're a very uneasy rock in your sleep. You toss and turn and groan in your sleep, too."

"Shut up," She replied defensively, suppressing a whimper.

Beads of sweat were collecting on her brow and neck, she could feel it, and knew that Ryuzaki was probably able to see it as well. Still, she was afraid to talk too loud, as if to disturb her own serenity.

"It's seven-thirty," L droned, tipping the remaining contents of the bag into his mouth, then disposing of the bag in the wastebasket beside the door.

"Please get up and get yourself around."

He turned, opening her wardrobe, much to Kotone's horror. Ryuzaki plucked a purple summer dress from the back and held it out in front of him with his index and thumb fingers, as if afraid to get his hands dirty.

"Here. Wear this."

"I don't think so," Kotone snapped, hurling herself out of bed to defend her clothes.

"I don't wear dresses unless it's for some occasion or forced upon me."

"Breakfast out with your father isn't special?"

Kotone faltered, stunned. Regaining her composure, she realized that this must be one of Ryuzaki's coy tricks. Hands on her hips, she challenged him.

"Oh? And would you happen to be accompanying us?"

"Well of course."

"I thought as much," She sighed, thumbs fiddling irritately with her pajama pants pockets.

"Well, that's no special occasion. I won't wear a dress."

"Then it's being forced upon you. Your father's request."

"I don't care," She lied.

"I'm wearing what I usually do- A long-sleeved shirt and a pair of jeans."

L replaced the dress back into her closet.

"Do as you wish, but your father won't be pleased."

"My dad wouldn't even let you come near my room, I know him better than that."

"Suit yourself," Was Ryuzaki's bored reply, turning to sit in the chair by the nightstand.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?!" She hissed, pointing towards the door- The _shut _door, she noticed.

"Keeping an eye on you."

"You can do that some other time, but not now, not while I'm getting dressed!"

"If you are Kira, I want to see this weapon, or power you use to kill. If we're leaving the household, surely you'd take it with you. So, you'll either show me here, or you won't take it- "

"Out!" She fumed, face radiating.

"No need to be embarrassed," L responded, watching the woman's face heat up more rapidly than boiling water.

"Either I check you now, or I'll check you later."

"Fine!" Kotone seethed.

"Once I'm dressed, you can frisk me later, is that okay?"

Ryuzaki stared at her, irritated.

"You take me for some lowly pervert."

"Yes."

"Why?"

"I get weird vibes from you. Haven't I already made it clear that I don't like you?"

"I might have noticed it once or twice," He answered with a grimace, standing up and shoving his hands in his pockets, heading towards the door.

"Thank you," Kotone snapped curtly, and very insincerely.

"You apparently haven't spent much time around women, but I suggest you learn real fast the courtesy you give a female!"

"If you were the typical female I am accustomed to," Ryuzaki retorted, slouching with his hands in his pockets in the doorway,

"Then you'd be wearing much more _feminine_ attire- not dressing as a slacker everyday. I assumed that special women get special treatment."

"So… because I'm not a typical woman, you think you have the right to watch me in my sleep?"

L peered at her lividly through his bangs.

"I was looking for the murder weapon."

Kotone laughed, pulling a long-sleeved black shirt from her closet.

"And I suppose you expected it to be stuck to my face, huh?"

"I was looking through your desk drawer and under your bed when I heard you cry out while you slept. I can't concentrate at one hundred percent under distraction."

She blushed, ashamed, and abruptly turned around, scrounging for socks.

"It's nothing to be embarrassed about," He informed her, with a tone of almost mock sympathy.

Kotone glared at him, throwing the long-sleeve onto her bed furiously. It was almost as if he was saying "So you're afraid of a little dream. Don't be shy- everybody is. Well… Not everybody…"

"Are you making fun of me?" She challenged.

"Not at all."

He turned to leave, almost shutting the door behind him. He hesitated, then added,

"And hurry up, if you don't mind. We've got to leave soon if we're going to breakfast and then to the Yagami household before the others return home."

Then he clicked the door shut.

Kotone felt like bashing her head against a wall. She'd forgotten all about today being the big day to install all those wires, taps, and etcetera in the Yagami's. That meant that her whole… dreadful… day… it would be spent with that _Ryuzaki_. Or at least most of her day would be. A shudder rippled down her spine in disgust.

* * *

"Kotone, why aren't you wearing something a little nicer?" Her father demanded as she ascended down the stairs.

Ryuzaki gazed almost mockingly at her, as if to say, "Told you so."

"It's just breakfast, dad," She insisted, ignoring her accomplice's antagonizing stare.

"We've gone out for breakfast before, and that was nothing special. So what's the big deal _now_?"

Ulrich smoothed out the front of his suit, his hand traveling up to the knot in his tie.

"This is your first official day, hands on as a... detective."

It appeared as if he was having trouble calling his daughter an official investigator. Which he probably was.

"You're going to have to start dressing the part now."

"Ryuuga doesn't have to dress all formal," Kotone argued, jerking her thumb towards the "madman".

"He isn't my son," Her father pointed out.

"Otherwise, he would be. Now, back upstairs with you."

"Daaad!" She whined.

In her mind, she saw herself pulling her hair out and stomping her feet like a child in a temper tantrum.

Ulrich swiftly pointed back upstairs, his eyes narrowing dangerously. A sign that he wasn't in the mood for arguments.

"And make it quick. After we eat, we're heading directly out for the Yagami household."

She retreated up the stairs, opening her closet with a sour frown. Glaring at the purple summer dress Ryuzaki had picked out, she stepped out of her jeans, her foot coming down with all the force of a crash symbol. If it had to be a dress, more formal than usual, but not as formal as the one she'd worn with Matsuda, then…

* * *

Ulrich scowled, turning to Ryuzaki.

"Your slacker attitude is already wearing off on her," He accused.

"Ulrich, I get the feeling that your daughter was always a slacker," Was the detective's casual response.

"You're making it worse."

"I'm sorry. That much I cannot help. Unless of course you don't want her on the case."

"I don't!" He replied curtly.

"You're the one who insisted!"

"It was her decision, so you can't intervene. Sorry."

Ulrich opened his mouth wide, about to point out that Ryuzaki had been the one to bring it up, when a knock on the door interrupted their argument. Upon Ulrich opening the door, Ryuzaki pushed past him, causing the man to growl lowly.

"Ah, Watari."

"We're ready to leave at any time."

"Good."

The detective turned to the staircase, cupping his hands around his mouth.

"**Ah, Kotone**!!" He called.

While Watari wasn't phased in the least, Ulrich plugged his ears with his fingers, letting out a yell of agony. A plate shattered in the kitchen.

"What's wrong?" Kokoro asked, rushing out of her hiding place.

"This fool!" Ulrich fumed, pointing to Ryuzaki.

"What?!" Kotone answered, scrambling to the top of the stairs.

She wore one legging, the other in her left hand. Finally, she'd decided on wearing a black standard long-sleeved, knee-length dress. Her mother wouldn't let her wear it out with Matsuda- it was "boring", as she'd put it.

"Watari is here," L explained, his voice back to normal as his hands dropped back to his pockets.

Kotone wanted to explode. She wanted to throw something at him for scaring her like that, so she did just that. She flung her legging at him, and, to her dismay, it landed six steps from him. He stared at it a moment, before reaching down and plucking it up with his index and thumb.

"Here you are," He offered as she stormed down the steps.

Snatching it from him, she hopped to the door while slipping it over her leg.

"C'mon, people! We're wasting daylight!"

* * *

"I still can't believe you wore tennis shoes."

"Dad, please!"

"It's quite alright," Shoichiro defended from his spot across the table.

He folded his hands in front of his face, casting Kotone a sidelong glance.

"I'm not offended."

"But Chief, I, as her father, _am_. This isn't how I raised her. To be some _barbarian_."

Kotone ignored their petty squabbling afterwards from then on. She figured her father was only angry that she'd taken the sole vacant seat in the two-person booth beside of Chief Yagami that he was being such an ass, leaving him to seat beside of his oh-so favorite detective… Not that being such was out of character for him.

L scratched his knee, legs pressed to his chest. Reaching forwards, he took a couple napkins from their holder, delicately twisting them horizontally with his thumb and index finger.

"Mr. Yagami, please map out a layout of your home on these. Draw only one room per side on the napkins, and use both sides."

The Chief accepted the napkins, a look of bewilderment on his face.

"Alright, but what for?"

"Based on your sketches, I am going to figure the most appropriate locations for the equipment."

"I see…"

Yagami patted his jacket, then his pockets.

"I don't seem to have any pen on me…"

"Here, use this marker, but then you can't use the opposite sides of the napkins since the ink will bleed through."

"That's quite alright."

Ryuzaki leaned towards Ulrich, who mirrored the detective simultaneously, leaning to his right as L did, until Ulrich hit the wall. As the detective fast approached, Ulrich looked like he either wanted to be sick or shove L back over as he fished in his pocket for the marker. Or maybe both.

"Here," L offered, straightening back over to his own vicinity.

"Oh. Thank you."

The waiter came as Yagami commenced his sketch, questioning if they party was ready to order.

"Coffee, no-decaf," Ulrich grunted.

"I'll have the same," L echoed, much to Ulrich's displeasure.

"Umm, I think I'll have an iced tea," Kotone sighed.

"Decafinated coffee, please," The Chief answered, taking his eyes away from his napkins long enough to give the blonde waiter a brief glance.

"Unsweetened?" The waiter inquired.

"Huhn?" Kotone replied blankly.

"Your tea," He answered carefully.

"Unsweetened?"

"Oh, umm… No, sweetened, please."

"I'll be back in a moment."

He left, and L's lips twitched, barely noticeable.

"I think that waiter likes you."

Kotone scowled, flashing him a dangerous scowl.

"You think a lot of things that all add up to bull."

"Perhaps you're right… But I don't think you _always_ are."

She curtly turned her head, glaring at the hanging basket of petunias looming beside her.

"_I won't stoop to his level, I won't stoop to his level, not today…"_

"…I think it's a more accurate assessment if I said that it seems to be a pattern I've noticed for the darker haired males to take a liking to you, and his hair was obviously bleached. And that's saying a lot, seeing how most people in Japan have dark hair-"

He was cut short by a wadded up napkin being thrown at him. Barely having to tilt his body at all, it easily missed. It hadn't been a good shot to begin with.

"Stop that, this instant!" Ulrich hissed.

"I won't have you throwing things in a public restaurant!"

Kotone crossed her arms. She hated that detective…

The waiter returned, and they ordered their breakfast; to her horror, she caught herself trying to catch the waiter to see if he was trying to make a pass on her. What horrified her more than that, was when he unnecesarily stated that he didn't have a girlfriend. Kotone began to think that this was some game to Ryuzaki; each and every time the waiter questioned her father about his food, Ryuzaki would give the same exact answer.

"I'll take an order of Congee," Ulrich ordered.

"Yes, that sounds good. I'll have the same," L complied.

"On second thought… I'll take the sweet omelet."

"Actually, that does sound better. I'll have that as well."

"Don't add any onions."

"Same here. No onions, please."

She found it highly amusing.

Shoichiro ordered miso soup and rice, while Kotone stuck with the sweet omelet. This seemed to further infuriate her father, convincing him that she was in on Ryuzaki's conspiracy to make his life a living hell.

"Here you are, Ryuuga. I've finished the maps."

"Thank you," Ryuzaki responded, reaching for the napkins.

"We'll be leaving now."

"What?!" Ulrich seethed, glaring angrily at Ryuzaki's plate- that he hadn't touched. Only his coffee cup and the once-full sugar bowl were empty.

"I'm ready," Shoichiro assured him.

"I'd rather get this over with as soon as possible, and before my son gets home. Sometimes he stays on campus to eat his lunch, but at other times, he comes home at noon."

"Understood," Ryuzaki replied.

Kotone lifted her arms, popping her elbow joints.

Ulrich remained the only one still seated. To his anger, soon he was the only one at the table.

* * *

"What is the meaning of this?!"

"I've indicated in red the areas in which cameras and wire taps will be installed."

"The whole napkin's red!!" Ulrich fumed.

They were in the back seat of Watari's black car, and Ulrich had snuck a peak at what L had been doing with the napkins as he wrote on them with a red pen.

"Precisely," L answered.

"Even if the Yagami family is keen enough to locate one or two of the cameras, they won't find all of them."

"Of course they won't! Everything is red!!"

"You know, that is a good idea," Kotone agreed, stunned she was actually agreeing with him.

Ulrich glared at her once again.

She tried her best to ignore him.

The limo came to a halt, and the sound of a door opening and closing could be heard. Seconds later, Watari opened the door, and the four of them clambered out. Matsuda waved from the gate of the Yagami household, calling as he ran towards them.

"Matsuda," The Chief reprimanded as they approached the rambunctious boy.

"We need to keep a low profile now. With your yelling, that won't be possible."

"Oh- Sorry, Chief..."

Kotone felt sorry for Chief Yagami. She failed to express in words how upset she would be if she knew that her mother would be monitered with cameras and wire taps, even while taking a shower or dressing herself- and she couldn't breathe a word to her about it. And it upset her on another level at the thought of herself being watched, and not able to do anything about it.

* * *

"Mr. Yagami, you will install the bedrooms. Ulrich, please handle the living and dining rooms. Matsuda, please get the kitchen and utility rooms."

Ryuzaki then turned to Kotone.

"Your father tells me that you've never worked with this type of equipment before. So you and I will attend the bathrooms."

"Understood," Shoichiro agreed on behalf of everyone.

So everyone went to thier respected rooms. But as Kotone stood atop the toilet lid while Ryuzaki sat below her, her bugging the ceiling tiles while he bugged around the base of the porcelain throne, she couldn't shake the feeling that he was stealing a peek up her dress. She tried to tell herself that this man was not a cheap peeping tom, but she paled when she glanced down at him and saw him looking straight back up at her.

"What?!" She demanded, voice quivering.

"I'm done here," He explained.

"Are you about finished?"

"Y-yeah... I think..."

He climbed atop the toilet, the two now near wrestling for space.

"Get down, before you push me into the bathtub!"

"No wonder you were taking so long. You couldn't find where this wire went, since you already had that one in it's place... If it had stayed like that, the picture would not have come in for this bathroom."

He switched the two wires, then brought his hands down, gazing curiously over at her.

"Intentional...?"

"No," She protested quietly.

"Good."

He reached back up and fumbled with the wires a bit longer. Crowded and feeling violated, she made a move to step down.

"No, you should stay up here and watch what I do, so you can see for yourself."

She silently obeyed, and analyzed his actions and corrected her technological mistakes. Also, she unintentionally and quite randomly, noticed, as he nearly stood ontop of her, that she was actually much shorter than him. Kotone had never considered herself a tall person, but she came up just below his shoulder with Ryuzaki standing up straight for once, and she felt all that much shorter.

Ryuzaki dropped his hands once again, then climbed down from the toilet.

"That's that for this bathroom. But there's still one more in the master bedroom. We'll get that one, then see how the others are doing."

"Alright."

The next room was much easier for her. Despite the fact that she'd been distracted by her height in comparison to his, she must've learned something watching him, because Ryuzaki was only waiting two minutes. Perhaps she'd obtained such abilities through osmosis.

By the time they were done, Ulrich and Matsuda were still working on thier rooms.

"Mr. Yagami, please go see what is taking Matsuda so long in the kitchen," Ryuzaki droned.

"Help your father, while I observe," He addressed Kotone.

She swallowed hard, nervous. Her father was hard headed and independent. He wouldn't be quick to accept help from her, she was well aware.

"Heya, pop... Uh, how's it looking up there?"

"Don't rush me," He snarled, standing atop the couch.

"If you want it done right, then leave me to it."

"No rush," L assured him.

"It is only ten fourty-five. Even if Chief Yagami's son does come home for lunch at noon, we will be gone by then, at this rate."

The faintest smile flickered across his lips.

"We are well ahead of schedule."

"If he doesn't want help..." He added, scratching his chin, walking into the opposite room.

"...Then allow me to teach you a lesson in _repairing_ such equipment, in case it becomes worn or damaged."

"...Repair-?"

She poked her head around the corner just in time to see L rip a handful of wires from the ceiling. Her jaw dropped.

"What was that noise?!" Ulrich called.

"Nothing," Ryuzaki lied.

"Here."

He connected the broken metallic cords on the insides of the wires.

"You can't just jam them together. You must get them just right... And then hold them fast with something rubberish... Duct tape works perfect. Regular tape is the method of ignoramouses. It doesn't work. It will not conduct the flow of electricity once you have the rest of the wire together..."

An awkward place to end, but I think I'm finished for this chapter. It's getting a bit too long now!


	5. Ideal

Well, first of all, I want to thank blackphoenixXIII for giving me that last little push that I needed to finish this chapter, which has been sitting unfinished for a couple weeks now. Between JROTC, band, and having writer's block (Lol), it seemed like I didn't have the time (or motovation) to finish this chapter. Luckily, I obviously finally did. As always, the standard disclaimer applies. I don't own Death Note, or any of the characters except Kotone and her family...Yadda yadda... Okay! We can read now.

* * *

It never, ever failed her. Every night, the same dream would come to her. And up until now, she'd reacted the same way to each and every death. She would be filled with sorrow, and morbid horror, until her father fell. Then she'd feel sick to her stomach.

But this night, it was different. Her father dropped into the light as usual. Her throat was set aflame with the same unshed tears, the same ones that pricked at her eyes. And then Ryuzaki collapsed. He laid, stone cold beside her, and when she turned to look at him, she felt a pain wash over her being. It wasn't like the pain that she'd felt towards her father. _That_ pain was natural. The feelings she had for Ryuzaki were completely _unnatural_. It hurt her in a different way, though she couldn't quite pin words onto her emotions.

It started in her toes, making them curl. The pain then worked its way to her abdomen, where it seemed to linger for an eternity before it snaked its way up her spine, then clutched at her chest. This feeling stopped her breath in her chest, making it a near impossibility to even breathe. Finally, her throat burned, set on fire.

"Ryuzaki!!"

* * *

"Though I'm flattered you dream about me... If such nightmares keep occuring, I would suggest you see a therapist."

Kotone's brow knitted together, her eyes still closed, and it took her a while to register who the speaker was that shattered her oh-so plesant dream state. When both the bored voice and apathetic attitude found its place in her mind, she just barely peeked out from under her eyelids. He was squatting over her, his legs on either side of her waist, just like the morning before. Minus the animal shapen crackers. Today it was a large chocolate chip cookie.

Her irises flitted from the bedsheets, to the sweets in L's hand, to the alarm clock on the stand beside her bed that she seemed to almost always wake up before. Once again, she reached slowly over and clicked the alarm off. Her hand fell lazily on her chest, where the remnants of the pain that used to be there still tingled. It was like a nightmare she'd had as a child, where she dreamt that a man had sawed off her left leg. When she awoke the next morning, that leg tingled almost painfully where the saw had pierced her skin. And man, was she scatter-brained this morning. Her thoughts were going everywhere, and she didn't even really care. Kotone didn't even mind that Ryuzaki was still stradling her sides.

She lifted her chin to look back at up at him, her eyes barely open. He gazed back intently, thumb at his lips, awaiting her usual sarcastic reply. Kotone could see the wheels turning in his own head, already fomulating a sly comeback of his own that he wouldn't have a chance to use because she had no intention of answering. Her head hit the pillow again, so tired, yet so afraid to fall back asleep. When was the last time she felt like this? She was typically a decent morning person, very "up-and-at'em". This morning, she was simply too drained to care about much.

She closed her eyes again, despite the fear of what waited in her personal darkness. But her consciousness was here to stay. The bed shifted, and she felt a weight set itself on her legs, pinning her down. She could feel it shift forward, and a shadow crossed her eyelids. Curiousity won the best of her, and she peeked again through the slit of her eyes. L was sitting on her legs, his back turned to her as he chewed on his cookie. Kotone ran her fingers through her hair, curling small locks of hair around her finger then watching the strands fall as they came loose.

"Today... Is Thursday, isn't it?" She whispered softly.

"Yes," L replied.

He swallowed the bite in his mouth, then gazed back over his shoulder at her. The detective licked his thumb, then ran it swiftly around his lips to catch any stray crumbs.

"Do you still want to observe the Yagami household?"

"Huh?"

"The wire taps. Today is the first day with them installed inside The Yagami household."

"Oh, right...."

She dropped her hand on her forehead, turning her head to the side to the side and watched the seconds tick on the clock, when something struck her as odd.

"Wait... Ryuzaki?"

"Hm?"

"... How'd you know I was having recurring dreams?"

L licked his lips, and stared up at the ceiling.

"Your behaviour."

Kotone's face began to flush, and she changed the subject before he could begin to list the symptoms on her.

"I do still want to observe the Yagami household..."

"In that case, please get up and get yourself dressed."

She blinked, and leaned forward, propping her body back on her elbows.

"Have they even left the house...?"

"Yes."

"So, then why do-?"

Her voice trailed off. She shook her head, not in the mood to start an arguement. She barely laid her palms on Ryuzaki's back to push him off of her legs, before he was climbing off and headed for the door.

* * *

2:15:36.

"I'm home," Chief Yagami's son announced as he stepped inside his family home.

Kotone, Chief Yagami and L sat on the couch, watch the live recording wordlessly. The son walked upstairs and to the door that Kotone assumed was his room, and paused for a split second, before walking on in. Thier eyes shifted to the screen linked to the son's room. He walked into his room, took off his backpack and laid down on his bed, hands folded behind his head. After only a moment, he stood back up and went to his closet. After pulling on his jacket, he left his room, stopping only to replace the slip of paper back between the door and its frame.

"I don't believe it," Chief Yagami mused aloud as he watched his son's suspicious behaviour.

"I never knew he went to such great lengths. What could he be hiding in there that he doesn't want anyone else to see?"

"For a seventeen year old kid, I wouldn't say this kind of behaviour is particularly abnormal. When I was his age, I did strange things, too."

He paused, then asked,

"Have you ever talked to your son about the investigation?"

"Of course not! I've never once revealed classified information to my family!"

Hesitant, the Chief adjusted his glasses, then added,

"Besides... I never get to see them too often these days, and when I get home, it seems all I can do is sleep..."

"I understand," L added, almost with a tone of sympathy.

Kotone shuffled her feet, staring at her socks. Her eyes flickered to L, squatted on the couch.

_"After this, does he still think that I am Kira...?"_

Yagami's son left the household, and all fell silent on the tape as the minutes passed by soundlessly. If there were any questions on her mind, she dare to voice them, as if for fear of breaking the silence was somehow forbidden.

* * *

The son of the Chief reached into his coat pocket when he was safely back into the comfort of his room, and pulled out a rectangular package. The first thing that crossed Kotone's mind was "book", but she was rudely corrected when he laid down on his chest on his bed, and cracked open a perverse "magazine". He flipped through the first few pages on bronzed bikini-bodies, untill his attention was caught by a brunette lying arched on ruffled sheets, clad in nothing but a skimpy pink bra and underwear. Thinking of how she'd never reveal herself publically like this, Kotone's cheeks flushed, and she turned her head to L. Both his and the Chief Yagami's eyes remained glued to the screen.

"Perverts..." She murmured under her breath.

"Hm? Did you say something?" The detective asking quietly, his attention never swaying from the picture on the tape.

"Not at all," She lied.

"I- I can't believe my son is looking at those magazines!"

L's thumb slipped from his lips, and he gazed at Chief Yagami from the corner of his eye.

"It's normal for a seventeen year old boy."

Kotone was about to scoff, when he added,

"But, to me, it seems like he's trying to make it apparent that it is because he has books like this, that he booby trapped his room so that he could tell when someone went in."

Kotone was impressed, but the same couldn't be said about the Chief.

"That's impossible, Ryuzaki! Do you suspect my son?"

The detective's thumb returned his his lips.

"Yes, I suspect your son. That's the whole reason of our installing bugs and cameras in your home and the home of the assistant director."

The Chief fell silent. His son on the tape turned a few more pages before sitting upright and closing the magazine. He stood up from the bed, and pulled what would seem to the naked eye to be a textbook... But he turned it over, and inside, other magazines of the same nature were hidden.

"Liiiight!!" A young female's voice called.

Light replaced his stash back into the bookcase, and stood back up to face the door.

"Dinner's ready!"

* * *

Dinner at the Yagami household wasn't particularly out of normal boundaries.

"I... love you."

"Ooooooh!" Sayu swooned.

She knelt down in front of the television, eyes wide and jaw agape.

"You're too great, Hideki Ryuga! There's no one in my class who even comes close to you!"

"Sayu!" Her mother scolded.

"Eat your dinner!"

"Later!"

L lifted the phone from his lap to his ear, pinkie stretching towards the sky as always.

"Aizawa, is the Kitamura family watching television right now?"

"Yes," Kotone heard Aizawa reply.

"They are all watching tv together as they eat. Channel four."

L hung up the phone, placing it back onto the arm of the couch.

"Watari. Please have them run that banner on both channels now."

"Understood."

Almost immediately, a reaction was displayed iat the Yagami household.

"Ehh, what?" Sayu groaned, upset from being inturrupted from her show.

Her eyes lit up again almost instantly as she recited the message.

" 'The ICPO announces that it is dispatching 1,500 detectives from the world's leading nations for the Kira investigation'."

"1,500 agents!" She mused aloud.

"Wow!"

"The ICPO are a bunch of idiots," Light commented.

"What?" Sayu gasped, turning to her older brother.

"It's pointless if they announce it like that," He explained.

"If they plan to send people in, they should do it secretly."

L crossed his arms across his knees.

"After all, FBI agents, whose investigations were all top secret, all got killed. This'll just fail in the same way. So, this must be a police tactic- broadcast ezaggerated numbers to scare Kira. But, I think Kira will see right through it."

L's thumb went back to his mouth.

"He's clever, isn't he? Your son..."

"Hm? Well, yes..."

"Thanks for dinner, mom," Light said, clearing his plate. He opened the cupboard door, and his sister giggled.

"Potato chips right after eating dinner? That'll wash your good looks right down the drain!"

"It's a midnight snack to help me study," He replied, before getting a drink and retreating back to his room.

He sat down at his desk, making ocassional work-related comments to himself, but overall nothing unusual. He opened the potato chip bag, and made no further personal comments.

"Your son has been studying ever since dinner, without turning on a tv or computer," L remarked.

"That's because there is less than ten days before his final exam," Soichiro responded.

Minutes passed, without anything being said. Light threw away his potato chip bag, then Watari came up behind L.

"Ryuzaki..."

"What is it, Watari?"

"A little while ago, a banker who was under investigation for embezzlement, and a purse snatcher who was in custody, both died of heart attacks. Today's 9 o' clock news was the first time that they had appeared in the media."

"It's Kira!" The Chief exclaimed, rising to his feet.

"At that time, in the Yagami household, Mrs. Yagami and her daughter were watching a drama on tv," Kotone recited.

"When the show ended, they turned off the television and didn't watch anymore after that. The son has done nothing but study from seven-thirty to now, eleven o' clock."

She turned to L, awaiting his explaination.

"For Kira to kill, he needs both a name and a face. So, anyone who didn't see that report isn't Kira... right?" He answered.

It was the first time she'd seen L look so uncertain.

"With this, my family should be in the clear!" Soichiro announced.

"Today, Kira killed people with relatively light crimes immediately after they first appeared on the news," L began.

"And, even though today was the first day after the cameras were installed, the Yagami family was almost suspiciously innocent."

Soichiro fell silent once again, defeated. Kotone glanced at the wrist-watch on Soichiro's arm. Eleven thirty-three. She suppressed a yawn, but her flared nostrils ultimately gave her away.

"You've done enough for today," L assured her in a soft, almost inaudible voice.

"Everyone is going to bed now, and it's not likely anything will happen. In the scenario that something _does_ occur, the Chief and I will be here, and will contact you. So if you'd like to go home and rest, that won't be a problem."

"No, I'd rather not," Kotone replied quickly.

"Or you can rest here."

She was almost tempted by the offer. If it wasn't for fear of her recurring dreams, she would have pulled up a blanket right then and there.

"I can call your father and ask him to bring you something more comfortable to sleep in."

Oh, yes. Her father would just love being called at nearly midnight by his favorite person in the world.

"That's really not-"

"I think I'm going to go home in a few minutes, if Kotone and Ryuzaki are going to stay," Soichiro announced.

"That's fine," L replied, rising to his feet.

His hands went to his pockets immeadiately, and Watari opened the door for the Chief. Ryuzaki walked over to Kotone, and leaned down until his face was inches from hers. She timidly shrank into the cushions.

"Can I... help you, L?"

"Are you hungry?" He questioned.

She bit her tongue in effort to keep from punching him in his jaw. Her stomache betrayed her and growled furiously. What seemed like a smile flitted across the detective's features, then stood up again.

"Watari?"

"Yes."

"Get me a..."

He back looked down at Kotone, now sitting in the fetal position, clentching her jaw angrily.

"What do you want? There are only a few places that are open this late."

"Just a..."

She blinked, and unfurled herself.

"You're buying?"

"Yes."

"Mine too?"

"Yes."

She pointed a finger in his face and stood, lowering her voice.

"If you're trying to seduce me, I swear, you'll- "

"I don't know what you're talking about."

He turned and walked away from her, which only fueled her anger.

"Get a manju cake, and-"

"Tatsuta-age, please, Watari," Kotone inturruputed.

"As she wishes."

Watari nodded, and left wordlessly. L checked the screens to make sure everyone was still asleep, then rounded on Kotone.

"You think I am some pervert."

"Yes."

"Why?"

He analyzed her, his thumb back to his lips. Kotone crossed her arms stubbornly.

"You watch me in my sleep. You try to watch me undress. And you looked at the girl in Light's magazine like she was something to eat."

"All for the sake of the investigation."

"Nice excuse."

L's eyes narrowed, and turned his back on her as he sulked off.

"I have no obligation to explain myself to you."

Kotone scoffed, sitting back on the couch. Her eyes blankly searched the screens for any movements. Sayu moaned in her sleep and rolled over, but that was it. Soichiro had not made it home yet, and the Mrs. was sleeping alone. Kotone repositioned herself so that she was lying down, her head resting on the arm of the couch. She felt sorry for Soichiro Yagami's wife. She'd never thought of getting married, but if one day she did, it wouldn't be to a detective. It had to have been a very stressful, very lonely existance. Maybe marrying a teacher would be a good idea. Someone who was good with kids. Or perhaps an athlete of some sort. Someone who was good-looking with muscles and in perfect shape. That would be nice.

"Ryuzaki, if you were to marry, what type of person would she be?"

The sound of footsteps stopped abruptly. She hated her question the second it had left her tongue.

"Ne- nevermind."

L came slowly around the side of the couch, sitting down at her feet.

"This certainly isn't how I'd plan our next conversation to go."

Kotone's cheeks flushed, and she buried her face into her arms.

"I said nevermind," Came her muffled reply.

After a moment, she peeked at him from under her elbow. His thumb was poised at his lips, as usual, and he was staring up at the ceiling.

"I'd have to say that I'm not quite sure."

She felt her face heat up again just as it was starting to finally cool back down.

"What would a normal man's reply to that question be?"

After an awkward moment, she answered,

"Most men would say something like... 'smart, beautiful, funny'..."

"Yes. That's sounds about right."

He turned to look at her.

"What would your response that that be?"

She rested her chin on her elbow, gazing at the detective now.

"I've never really wanted to get married."

"Neither have I."

Kotone shifted again, pulling her legs underneath her.

"Um.. Well, a guy who's kind, confident and smart is what I'd think to be ideal."

"I'd like a confident wife, too."

A moment passed, before Ryuzaki added,

"Matsuda is a kind guy."

Kotone shook her head violently.

"Why are we having this conversation?!"

"You brought it up."

"Not intentionally!"

She moved once more, facing the screens again.

"You're a moody woman."

Kotone's eye twitched.

"And you're a very blunt and irritating man!"

The door opened on the tape. Soichiro had finally made it home. L and Kotone watched in silence as he went stright to bed, without bothering to change his clothes or use the bathroom, and was asleep in a matter of seconds. Kotone couldn't help but wonder when the last time Mrs. Yagami saw her husband was.

"Tomorrow... bring one of your instruments here from your home."

"What?"

"Please."

Perplexed, Kotone nodded.

"Thank you," L muttered.

"Yeah... no problem."


	6. Hour

Sorry!! I know you all probably thought I had gone and died somewhere… But no, I'm still alive. And kicking, I might add. I just got caught up in this thing called life… I'm sure you can all relate. But enough of my making excuses. I've taken advantage of my absence, and I have a solid idea of what I want to do for many, many chapters to come, and even know what I want to do for a sequel once this series is over… Given, you guys want a sequel. Let me know, please. Also, my idea is not set in stone, so if you have any ideas or anything you'd like to see or like to change, please, by all means feel free to speak your mind. I would greatly appreciate it. Although I really love to get reviews saying that I've captured so-and-so's personality brilliantly, or that they like where the story is going, getting more constructive feedback is where my writing really flourishes.

* * *

"…Ryuzaki."

"Yes?"

"The embezzler and purse snatcher from the other day… there was no way my family could have known either of them. Shouldn't they… be in the clear?"

L brought a fork to his mouth, gazing almost absentmindedly at the array of screens before them. At first, it seemed he hadn't heard the chief speak.

"That's right…" He replied dully, gnawing subtly on the prongs of the instrument.

"Even though Kira can control the time of death, I can't imagine he could specify a death as happening before the broadcast was—"

His voice trailed off, and Kotone's eyes traveled to one of the many television screens, placing her cello, obedient to L's request, beside her on the couch.

"Your son's come home again…"

Light walked into his room, sat down at his computer desk… and flipped on the TV. He watched the news for a about an hour and a half, then slipped his jacket over his shoulders and headed back outside. Kotone reached for her instrument again, furrowing her brow as she noticed an imaginary smudge. Snatching the soft velvety cloth from its case at her feet, she rubbed furiously at the wood finish. She had been so into her "work", that she jumped when L turned off all the screens rather abruptly and announced,

"I'd like to go to the Ide household, please. Mr. Yagami, Kotone… please gather what you've brought with you today and let us be on our way."

Kotone pursed her lips angrily.

"_And after he asked me to lug this heavy ass cello with me today… Damn him!"_

But, instead of striking up an argument, she nodded, replacing the instrument inside its case and snapping it shut. Shoichiro Yagami rose and headed for the door, fishing in his pocket for his keys. It was still a habit for him, as it was for Kotone as well. It didn't feel right, not having your car keys on you after you'd carried them around for years. A look of astonishment crossed his face as the thought of losing his car keys ran through his mind, when it occurred to him that Ryuzaki had them. He shuffled his feet sheepishly, returning to the detective.

"Ryuzaki, I—"

"We'll all be riding together in pairs, if you don't mind. Yagami-san, you and Watari will leave immediately. Kotone and I will leave exactly one hour from your departure."

"But Ryuzaki, what is the point of—?"

"As not to arouse suspicion," L answered blatantly, as if it was utterly obvious.

"Uhm… Yes, alright."

No sooner than the door had closed behind Watari, L propped his foot on the couch beside of Kotone. Her nose instantly scrunched up in disgust, her eyes narrowing and her lips curving to a slight frown.

"Do you mind?"

"You're an attractive woman, Kotone."

"Excuse me?" She demanded, immediately sliding as far away from him as the sofa would allow.

"You shouldn't make such faces. You're an attractive woman," He repeated.

"You should try to convey yourself as such, be more ladylike, and not make such gruesome expressions."

It took nearly all of her willpower not to burst out laughing, both in relief that that _hadn't_ been a crude attempt at hitting on her, and in the sheer "wierdosity" of his words.

"_Gruesome_, you say?"

"Not as ugly as when you first wake up in the mornings, but yes, still gruesome."

Kotone bristled. Her frown deepened, almost seeming to be etched eternally into her features. Was he trying to _tease_ her? The lecher. She couldn't help but rise to the bait, and L had known that all too well.

"Ha ha, you're absolutely _hilarious_, Ryuzaki. Do you _own_ a mirror?"

"…!?"

"You are the epitome of gruesome."

L blinked at her, almost as if dazed, and she laughed maniacally on the inside. She was positive that she'd just burned him to a degree of no return. Instead, the ghost of a grin crossed his lips, but it was gone almost as soon as it had come. Kotone was too busy relishing in her victory to notice such a spectacle.

"… Play me a song."

"Hunh?" Kotone grunted, caught off guard.

L pointed to the cello case.

"If you would, please."

"Uh… Sure…"

She flipped the locks on the case open, pulling out the instrument and laying it across her lap. The detective watched her intently, his thumb at his lips, as she reached back down into the case for the bow. She straightened her back, propping the neck of the violin against her shoulder, and L sat down beside her, facing her, bringing his knees to his chest as usual. Her teeth scraped her bottom lip as she racked her memory for a piece to play… Slowly, she balanced the cello between her knees. She wanted something not too slow that Ryuzaki would get bored, but not too fast as to blow his mind, either. Although, she giggled to herself, that might be an entertaining sight…

She brought the bow down across the strings, and L's eyes widened slightly. He edged forward a bit. Kotone would usually need her sheet music with her (she had foolishly forgotten to bring it along with her), but this piece she had committed to memory flawlessly. It was the same piece she had had to memorize and play effectively for her high school band director in order for him to agree to give her a recommendation into To-Oh. He had driven a hard bargain, but it had been worth it… even if her parents had forbid her from claiming her place among the ranks of the ICPO.

Kotone closed her eyes, sliding her fingers up the neck to hit the higher notes of the song. She would have said that the piece was a beautiful one, but the word did not do enough justice for the music. While it hurt her fingers every time she played it, it was always worth the pain. With several high notes and the feeling that was sent through her chest the moment she reached its climax, it was no wonder her mother loved this thing almost as much as Kotone herself did. She wondered if her mother got goosebumps all over her skin like Kotone did when she heard the tune played.

A warm, steady draft of air wafted across her check. Her eyes shot open, and the cello screeched, a sound worse than nails on a chalkboard as she was caught off guard once again. She turned her head, and brushed noses with Ryuzaki. His knees were almost against her arm as he leaned forward. He blinked at her, either oblivious to, or blatantly ignoring the outraged expression on Kotone's face.

"That was nice, but I didn't ask you to stop."

"You—!"

"What was that called? It was Vivaldi, if memory serves me correctly…"

His words had flown over her head, and she raised her free hand, balling it into a fist and bringing it down on his head. Or, at least, it would have landed on his noggin, had he not expertly caught her wrist a millisecond before impact. She blinked, her normally pale face flushing with both anger and shame as he stared her down through his disheveled bangs.

"Please stop trying to hit me. It isn't very ladylike of you."

Kotone pursed her lips, poised for an argument for the ages.

"Then I suggest you stop sneaking up on me like that! You're invading my personal space! Besides, it's creepy as hell!"

L blinked innocently enough at her, but he wasn't fooling her. In any case, she imagined that the "puppy dog eyes" that he made were capable of making a small child cry. Amidst her thoughts, she struggled to smother a potentially loud and obnoxious snicker. Such a bold declaration did not go unnoticed by L.

"You really are the moodiest woman I believe I've ever met."

"That's not saying much, seeing as how you could probably count all of them on one hand," Kotone retorted with a giggle-suppressed grunt.

L frowned, dropping her wrist and resting his hands on his knees. His eyes drooped as he continued to stare at her, and the bags beneath his eyes seemed to be more prominent than normal. Perhaps she'd gone a bit too far… Oops.

It wasn't until this very moment that the young musician realized how much _fun_ she was having, how much _delight_ she got from giving this socially inept man a hard time. No wonder he constantly did it to her. It was very addicting.

"_Kotone- 2. Panda Bear- Nada,"_ She chanted to herself absent-mindedly, almost as if giving herself a pep talk.

And then, she twitched as she caught up to what she'd actually just thought.

"_Wait… Panda bear…?!"_

She took a random curious glance at him. Pale, with dark circles around his eyes. The origin of Panda.

All mental and physical restraint left her being, and she burst into laughter. Ryuzaki's brows knitted together in a combination of what might have been horror and confusion. His eyes turned to saucers as Kotone rose to her knees, convinced she had herself composed, but was horribly wrong, and toppled onto him in another fit of laughter.

Even she realized what had just happened, but it took her almost a full minute to register the position that she was in. She was giggling manically into his shoulder, the rest of her body sprawled over the mountain that was his knees.

"It was you who spoke of their personal space being violated," He reminded her.

She felt every syllable he spoke reverberate off of him, louder and clearer than normal, obviously, as she laid awkwardly. Groaning, she smirked before she lifted herself off of him and retreated to the opposite side of the couch, furiously masking her shame.

"Oh you shush, Panda bear," She murmured under her breath, snickering again.

"What was that?"

By his tone, it sounded like more of a confirming voice than a questioning one.

"Nothing at all."

He was silent for a moment, before he rose to his feet and turned to face Kotone.

"Well, if you're so sure, then we should be going. But first..."

"First?"

He leaned in dangerously close to her face. With a sharp intake of breath, Kotone took several steps backwards, only to be matched toe-for-toe with Ryuzaki.

"Uh, can I help you?" She inquired lamely.

"Please don't call me Panda anymore," He droned, his eyes back to their normal, droopy state.

Kotone laughed before she had time to react in any other way. L, however, was _not_ amused. He glowered dangerously at her.

"I meant that."

"Uh-huh, sure. You're just mad that I have one up on you. Two up, actually, to be technical. You can't think of any more smart aleck retorts so you're just trying to play the innocent peacekeeper, at least until you have your dignity and your _manhood_ back."

Much too L's dismay, she laughed again at his expense. Kotone shook her head, amazed. She couldn't remember the last time she'd had so much fun. Even the trip she'd taken with her mother to Washington D.C. in America three summers ago hadn't been as entertaining as irritating this awkward man.

"I am _very_ much so a man," Ryuzaki declared defensively, his ego bruised.

"I can tell."

"What is that supposed to mean."

The way Ryuzaki phrased his last sentence, Kotone could tell it was a statement, not a question. He was _daring_ her to call him unmanly again. Once again, her pride and ego forbade her to ignore the bait he threw. With a smirk, she placed her hands on her hips.

"I think you know what I meant, Ryuzaki."

"Please clarify."

Well, if he wanted to play hardball, she could play hardball. She had no qualms with that.

"I meant... you're not a real man, Ryuzaki. You're barely a boy, still hanging in with the maturity of a thirteen year old boy, closet-pervert and all."

Blunt as she'd been, she knew he couldn't ignore that. And he did not. In one fluid movement, he was practically on top of her toes, stretching his arms out in an embrace. Without thinking at all, she vaulted over the coffee table behind her and screamed. Ryuzaki's eyes widened, having heard her _yell_ before, but never _scream_. He lowered his arms, a frown crossing his lips as if she'd done him some horrible, personal wrong.

"What the hell was that?!" Kotone demanded angrily.

"Hmm?"

"That! What you tried just now!!"

"...A hug?"

"Is that what you call it?"

He stared at her, insulted. She bristled, any amusement or fun she'd formerly been having gone out the window. Running a shaking hand through her bangs, her eyes went instantly to L's hands, as if to make sure they weren't having second thoughts about getting familiar with her body.

"A hug, you say? What did I say earlier about my personal space?"

"I thought that ended when you jumped on me."

"Well, you thought wrong. Why were you trying to hug me?"

His next sentence made goosebumps runn the length of her arms, and her hair stand on end. Slyly, a faint smile graced his lips.

"Men always enjoy hugging beautiful women."

Suddenly, it all made sense to her. She'd called him unmanly; he'd tried to amend himself to her by embracing her. Smoothing out the front of her jeans, Kotone pried her eyes away from his hands, and glanced at the clock on the wall.

"I guess we should be going now. It's been an hour and fifteen minutes since they left."

She bent down to put away her cello, snapping the case shut. Throwing the strap across her chest, she turned to the detective. He was still eyeing her like she'd hurt his feelings. She sighed, folding her arms across her chest.

"You're very melodramatic."

"That is the pot calling the kettle black."

"I am _not_ melodramatic!!"

"You said I wasn't a man," He pointed out randomly.

Biting her lip, she stomped furiously on the carpet. Knowing full well she'd kick herself for it later, she opened her arms. L arched a curious eyebrow at her, as if questioning what he thought the gesture might mean, but too afraid of her wrath to jump to conclusions.

"Come on, now. You won't let it drop anytime soon, anyways. Before I change my mind."

The detective needn't to be told twice. He quickly cleared the coffee table seperating them, and wrapped his arms tightly around her stomach. She patted him nervously on the shoulder. After a few seconds, she pushed him away from her.

"Okay okay, you've had you're fun for today. So, are we even now?"

"Not hardly."

"I didn't think so."

Slipping his hands into his pockets, his head cocked to the side, and Kotone could already see the wheels turning in his head.

"What?" She demanded.

He turned away from her, scuffing his bare feet across the carpet to the door. Awkwardly, she stuffed his feet into a pair of worn sneakers on the welcome mat.

"We should get going."

"I tried to tell you that ten minutes ago."

"I was not satisfied with your company then. I am moderately pleased now."

"_'Moderately'_?" Kotone scoffed.

"You should be downright ecstatic after that."

"I now know what I will demand as compensation for your cruel words from now on," Ryuzaki mused aloud.

Kotone seethed.

"You deserve half the crap you get!"

"What about the other half?"

"You bring it on yourself!"

"I am driving."

"You're not driving _my_ car, with _my_ car keys!"

"More cruel words? I will need another embrace once we reach your home."

"The hell you will!"


	7. Second

It's been a while, yes, yes, I know, and I apologize. However, just want to say thanks to The Jaide Ninja Spork, who wrote me a chapter all its own for a review. It's the single longest review I've ever gotten, for any story, and in all honesty, in made my day. Although length of reviews aren't everything, TJNS (for short because I'm not typing that again, ha ha) proved a valid point; simple reviews like "Update soon" are in its own way gratifying that they took the time to write the three seconds review opposed to those who don't review at all, it just doesn't help me, the writer, any. I like to know what I can do better therefore I can improve, and what I already do flawlessly so I can continue to do so. I can't catch everything with these eyes of mine; especially not when it comes to opinion.

* * *

Ulrich scowled in distaste, clentching his fists until his knuckles turned white, his nails biting relentlessly into his palms.

"I don't like this, not one bit," He mumbled angrily, and quite needlessly.

His eyes darted to the kitchen, where his unsuspecting wife was washing dishes. It was a chore-- no, more like a ritual for her to wash dishes twice a day.

Sochiro gazed sympathetically at his co-worker, unfortunately relating to his pain.

"L is suspicious of my child as well, Ulrich. As much as I don't want to believe that my son could be capable of ever... " The chief's voice trailed off, clearing his throat before he continued, "Well, I will do what is best for this investigation, and nothing less. You should do the same."

Ulrich's lips twitched as if he wanted to argue, but he knew he had no argument against the Yagamis. As least the Ide household wasn't bugged with wire-tap and cameras. Just the mere thought of that damned detective L watching his daughter dress every morning, eyeing his wife as she stripped down for a shower... It made his skin crawl. Well, since Kotone was all apart of this now, he reminded himself drearily, she would know about the installation of such equipment in her own home. She would have gone over to someone else's, anyone else's to bathe and clothe her body, rather than reveal herself explicitly to the man she so often swore up and down was a "closet pervert".

All in all, Sochiro had pulled the short straw of the deal. Just as he resigned himself to silence, a high pitched melody chimed from Watari's jacket pocket. He answered the phone quietly, and the pair of detectives in the room turned to their superior's aide.

"Understood."

Watari snapped the cell phone shut and cleared his throat, slipping the phone back into his pocket.

"Ryuzaki and Kotone are taking a detour," He announced softly to the two men in the room, careful not to draw the woman's attention.

"Detour?" Ulrich demanded, his temper beginning to spark again.

"Detour to where? Where in the hell that crazy bastard taking my daughter?!"

* * *

Kotone offered the detective a triumphant grin, tossing her keys into the air before catching them, twirling the key ring around her index finger.

_"Finally,"_She mused, allowing a satisfied smirk inch its way to her lips as she watched L shuffled down the sweet shoppe's front steps and towards her vehicle.

_"Sweet, sweet karma."_

The woman had, hands down, won the argument over who would drive her car to her home. That much had been decided when she asked him where his driver's license was. He had yet to reply, and tossed her the keys to her car; instead, he twisted her arm into agreeing to stop at a local sweets store and buy him treats of his choosing. She knew there was a reason he had given up so easily. Nonetheless, it was a shameless surrender if she'd ever thought him capable of one.

Inserting her keys into the ignition, she started the engine and sat back in the driver's seat, waiting on her companion to close the door behind him. Comically enough, or so Kotone thought, Ryuzaki climbed into the car practically on all fours, before curling himself into the passenger seat. He brought his knees to his chest and pulled the seat belt across his legs before jabbing his thumb between his lips. Kotone had been biting her lip to suppress the laughter that had been building up since she'd watched him "crawl" into the car, but seeing him insist on a seat belt despite his ridiculous sitting position had been the icing on the rhetorical cake. Her teeth left her bottom lip, and she threw her head back, howling with laughter. L's head almost mechanically whipped to stare at her, his eyes wide and blatantly curious.

Instead of explaining herself to the perplexed detective, she shook her head softly, carefully dabbing at her moistened eyes with the hem of her shirt.

"You know, you're a very amusing man," Was all the hint she gave the clueless detective, still chuckling to herself.

L's eyes flitted to the ceiling of the car, studying it as if it, too, were suspect to be Kira.

"I knew there had to be some reason as to why you enjoyed my company," He deduced, his tone solemn.

"And I have to say, your reasoning isn't at all flattering... _Kotone_."

He placed heavy emphasis on her name, as if he were about to further accuse her of something else, and the woman's snickering died out almost immediately. Rolling her eyes, she shifted gears into reverse to back out of the parking lot.

_"He's insulted, the conniving perv."_

"And who's to say I enjoy your company?" She taunted, pressing the issue despite the nagging feeling in the back of her head that if she persisted like this, she'd be doing more than just hugging him later down the road.

"You _do _enjoy my company. That's why you laugh at my expense... _Kotone_."

_"There's that voice again..."_

Pursing her lips, she ignored his comment, knowing full well that if she continued, she'd probably regret it later. Which was an oddity for her, keeping her mouth shut; after all, she'd never been known for her self-control.

She made a silent vow to never tease him again, because he poked back twice as hard... Although she was doubtfully that promise would last long.

Smiling to herself, her personal annoyance took the opportunity to hound her about the silent gesture.

"Laughing at me again?"

Kotone, once again, couldn't help herself. She laughed again, but this time, at nothing he'd _done_.

_"So, he figured it out on his own, huh? Guess I shouldn't be surprised."_

"I'm sorry, Ryuzaki," She apologized insincerely.

"I can't help it if you're still mad about the other day."

The detective ignored her, returning to his former pouting.

* * *

**"Hideki!" Her mother chimed, a little too enthusiastic as she laid eyes on the listless detective. **

**Kokoro clasped her hands together, oblivious to the tensity building in the room. He glowered at Ulrich, who in turn glared back at him. Kotone cringed; knew what was going through his mind.**

_**"Why didn't you get rid of her?"**_

**There had been a reason that Ulrich, Watari and Chief Yagami had left an hour earlier, aside from not arousing suspicion. **

_**No witnesses.**_

**And now, the detective was as livid as Kotone had ever seen him. He had a way of being stoic, but either it was his time of the month or he really had been angry with Kotone, but the calm mask had been thrown out the window. Soichiro shifted uneasily, as if uncomfortable in his own skin.**

**"It's so good to see you again, Hideki! School is going good, I hope?"**

**L ignored her, which caused a spark of animosity to flicker withing Kotone's chest.**

**"Just because the first wave screwed up, don't blow my mom off, you ass..."**

**"My homework cannot begin," He spoke softly, his harsh stare shifting to Chief Yagami,**

**"Not until chores are done."**

**He was speaking in riddles now, Kotone realized dully. To avoid suspicion on her mother's part. Fortunately, her mother waved apologetically, reaching for her jacket.**

**"Oh, right! My husband said that he was expecting company... I just wish I would have known it was **_**you**_**, Hideki!"**

**The detective nodded blankly, and Kotone bristled.**

_**"She sure likes him, doesn't she...?"**_

**"...If I had, I would have let you two lovebirds alone!"**

**Upon hearing this, L's mood lightened considerably. Though barely noticeable, a smug look crossed his eyes. Ulrich paled in horror. And Kotone, allowing her tongue to get the better of her, ran after her fleeing mother, shouting after her,**

**"**_**No**_**! We are **_**not **_**together!"**

**Ryuzaki's pride depleted considerably, his smugness gone, and he motioned for the detictives to follow him further into the house.**

**

* * *

******

"You're just not my type, Ryuzaki. Maybe if you were more of a romantic--"

"A romantic, you say?" He repeated, almost in a state of awe.

His eyes returned to the ceiling. A shiver ran down the length of Kotone's arms, and she cringed, mentally slapping herself as they drove.

_"Me and my motor-mouth..."_

L's eyes fluttered as if he'd just been snapped out of a daze. In the blink of an eye, he had whipped out his cell phone and pressed a button to call one of the very few numbers he had programmed into speed dial.

"Watari," He addressed slowly, fluently,

"Kotone and I are on our way back to the hotel now, so please leave now. Contact anyone else who isn't there as well, and tell them to go to the Shinobato Hotel and to go to room one-oh-five."

With a final click, he flipped his phone shut and tucked it back into his pocket.

"Don't you think it's a bit much, Ryuzaki?" Kotone found herself asking before she'd meant to.

"Hmm?"

L's wayward stare zeroed in on her. He had removed his thumb from his mouth, and was currently munching away on yet another cookie.

"Switching hotels _every _single time we have a meeting there? What's the harm in using the same room twice? Or even at the very least, the same hotel, but another room?"

"You can never be too careful."

She sighed and didn't bother to argue with him any longer. After all, he was the world class detective-- she trusted he knew what he was doing; otherwise, he wouldn't have gotten this far.

* * *

"In the past few days, I've listen to all of our audio recordings, and reviewed the video footage we captured. I've gone over them many times..."

L reached forward on top the table before him, pulling a circular-shaped treat from it wrapper, holding it between his thumb and index fingers as he spoke.

"...and I've come to a conclusion. Our surveillance of the Kitamura and Yagami households have revealed... Nothing."

He popped the chocolate candy into his mouth, and Soichiro Yagami sighed aloud, his glasses sliding to the tip of his nose.

"We will remove the cameras and wire taps."

"All that, and we still don't have any suspects," Matsuda droned in exasperation.

"It's okay, Matsuda," The Chief intervened.

"We'll have to pursue other leads, but we'll get him."

At this, Ryuzaki made a curt humming noise between bites in his treat.

"Mmuhmm, please don't get the wrong idea."

Soichiro turned to the detective, his mouth slightly ajar as if he was already fearing the words that might come next from his mouth.

"I only said that we were unable to reveal anything suspicious, based on our _surveillance_."

"What?" the Chief murmured in mock horror.

L rubbed his toes together before continuing,

"Even if Kira was among them, I'm sure he wouldn't make it obvious. No, it means he was able to continue killing without doing anything outwardly suspicious."

"Well, then you do believe that Kira is among one of those families," Soichiro surmised dejectedly.

"As I've said... There's a five percent chance."

He reached for his coffee, stirring sugar into it as everyone around him went eerily quiet. Kotone bit her lip, her eyes going from face to face as she observed the facial expressions of each detective individually as she sorted out her own thoughts.

_"So... L must think that he's reached a dead end with the hidden cameras. That means he must have given up that he's depending on whoever this murderer is, to make mistakes on his own... I wonder, then, what will be his next move against the residents of the Kitamura and Yagami households...?"_

* * *

_"I still can't believe I let him talk me into this..."_

Kotone sat down, three seats across from L.

**"We can't sit together, as to not draw suspicion to ourselves."**

**"What should make the difference? As far as anyone else is concerned, we're just two high schoolers taking the To-Oh enttrance exam."**

**"I might be tempted to talk to you if you sat near me," L had explained childishly, unabashed.**

**"And if we start speaking to one another, we will draw attention."**

She took a casual glance around the room, offering the detective a curt glare as she did so.

_"It isn't my fault he can't concentrate around me, even while on a case..."_

"And, begin!" The proctor announced, glancing at his watch.

Kotone snatched up her pencil, and begin the test.

Acing the exam wasn't her job. She simply had to pass it with about average scores, so as not to draw attention to herself. That was L's job.

She had passed a similar test before from her old high school; obviously, it wasn't the same exact questions, but she had been her class representative. Now, she just had to blend in with the other students. In all honestly, she couldn't see why L had pushed her into this, if she wasn't adopting any vital role of any kind. He could have done this test himself. His goal had been to obtain the status of class representative, all the while scouting the room for Chief Yagami's son, Light. He was the first suspect on L's list that he would pick apart personally.

"You there! Student number one-six-two!"

Kotone flinched at the numerical combination. That was Ryuzaki's number. Her head shot up, glaring at the back of the detective's head.

"Sit properly in your chair!"

_"Of course..."_

L had resumed his standard seating position; his knees up against his chest, one hand on his knees while his free hand took care of the writing.

Upon scanning the room carefully, she noticed that Light Yagami had tilted his head to gaze back at L, and that the detective had held his stare equally.

_"He was the one so concerned about not drawing any attention,"_ She mused bitterly.

Kotone sighed and dropped her eyes back down to her task of "supportively blending in", ignoring the staring contest that had commenced between detective and prospective murderer.


End file.
